The Life of Magicians
by trustingHim17
Summary: Separated from their family at a young age, Machaela and Jesse are faced with a choice: learn magic or get separated while Child Protective Services searches for their family. Refusing to let themselves be separated, they dive into the world of gods and monsters. This is their story. Companion fic to Life of a Demigod
1. Chapter 1

_CRUNCH! SCREEEEEE! BOOM!_

 _Metal and tree limbs fly through the air, scattered from the collision. She vaguely notices a car bumper fly over her head, turning end over end. Another noise sounds as the bumper disappears from sight._

 _SNAP!_

 _She's flying, touching the leaves that seem to want to tickle her chin, like her Mommy does. But behind the leaves are branches, and they hurt, tearing at her new holiday clothes and cutting her skin._

 _It happens so quickly, but passes so slowly. Here's another piece of a car, but it's the wrong color to be Mommy's. It must be from the car that hit them. She barely misses a tree limb; it breaks before she can hit it, for which she's thankful. She had learned the day before how sharp the local tree bark is, much different from the Aspens back home. There's her brother, also flying, but flailing wildly as panic sets in. Over there is—wait, her brother?!_

 _She tries to look back, to check on her baby brother, but time speeds back up, and suddenly she's crashing through thick leaves and painful sticks to hit the very hard ground._

 _She's also very thankful when the darkness sets in._

 **Hi, everyone! Welcome to my newest story! You can find the disclaimer on my profile. Chapter updates will be sporadic, both in length and timing, but as always, review make them come faster! Constructive criticism is** **always** **welcome, but flames will be used to make s'mores. Happy reading, and don't forget to review!**


	2. Chapter 2

"I think we're lost."

"We are not lost. Quit your worrying."

The sounds of the woods filled the (however short) silence between them.

"We should have brought the better map, Jared."

"I don't need a map, dear. I know this area, and we are NOT lost."

"No." Jared smiled at her agreement. "We just don't know where we are." That smile disappeared. "I told you we should have turned around when we first didn't recognize the area."

"Well, there's your answer, Sarah. _I_ still recognize the area."

"No, you don't. You're just too stubborn to admit we're lost."

"We are not lost!"

The couple stumbled their way up the unmarked path, which Sarah was not actually sure was a path so much as a break in the trees they could easily pass through. They had started out hiking up the draw that morning, but after a picnic lunch, they had somehow managed to lose the trail.

"How long do you think we have until he starts looking for us?" she asked.

"Seriously? He _sent_ us on this wild goose chase. He's not allowed to worry about when we get back, though we should be back before dinner."

A very unladylike snort answered him. "Knowing him, he probably knows where we are better than we do. And it _is_ dinnertime. Or nearly dinnertime, anyway. There's no way we'll be back before dinner, unless you can teleport."

"Do portals count?"

"Only if you have a relic in your bag." Jared remained silent. "There's _your_ answer. No, Jay, portals do not count. Besides, you're not good at those anyway. That's my job." She pulled their (horribly confusing) map out of her bag, and again started trying to decipher it while walking. "Let's see," she mumbled, thinking aloud. "It's midafternoon in high summer so north is…that way. We started here and walked…south? So we should be in…this area. Hey!" She stopped walking completely and studied her map.

"What?" Jared asked.

"If I'm right about our general area, we should be near a road."

He looked around, but, as anyone who has been to the south in summer knows, he couldn't see ten feet through the trees. "I don't hear a road," he said instead.

Sarah rolled her eyes at him. "Of course you don't." She laughed even as she swatted at him. "We're in Tennessee, the land of trees." She looked back at her map, grumbling, "Or are we in Kentucky?" Studying the map, she alternately griped about the hot, humid south with too many trees to see anything and when she would be transferred to Denver. Jared, though he was usually the one to initiate their playful banter, wisely kept quiet.

They kept walking forward, following paths that probably weren't actually there, and trying to get out of "these infernal woods," as Sarah called them.

Finally, after several more minutes of plodding along through the woods, Sarah had had enough of the map. She wasn't even sure where they were, and every map reading class required a starting point to find the current point. She slowed down a bit, Jared getting further ahead of her as she swung her bag around to shove the map back inside. By the time she looked back up, Jared had completely disappeared.

She took a few steps forward, expecting to see him around the next tree, since he couldn't have gotten too far ahead. "Jared?" she said, barely raising her voice above normal volume, in case they weren't alone. There was no answer.

Just before she could start getting really worried, she heard something off to her right. It sounded like a gasp, and she turned toward it right as she heard him call out. "What in the world?! Sarah! SARAH!"

She bolted toward the copse of trees to her right, expecting to find her fiancé under attack. What she found was almost the opposite. Jared was on his knees next to a figure, a small figure that was lying face down on the ground. He reached out and gently turned the figure over to reveal the pale, injured face of a very young boy.

Sarah started to run over, but glanced down just in time to skid to a halt. The boy wasn't alone. Sarah knelt next to a young girl, a year or two older than the boy, and just as injured.

"Sweetie, can you hear me?" She gently moved the young girl's shoulder, trying to wake her, but the girl remained limp, reminding Sarah scarily of a ragdoll. A large knot bloomed on the side of the girl's head. Sarah started digging through her bag, looking for anything that could help, and finally found a brand-new hiking first aid kit in the bottom. She vaguely remembered buying it shortly before Derald announced they would have guests, but she had no idea what was in it.

As she opened the kit, she glanced over at Jared to find him trying to help the boy, without any idea as to how. Neither of them had much healing experience, and they'd left their best healer back at base with Iskandar, trying to make sure he was recovered from that episode last month. She found a variety of bandages and ointments in her kit, and started trying to stop the bleeding.

The small kit didn't have a lot of supplies, but it had just enough for them to stabilize both kids to get better help. When they had done all they could for the time being, Jared started to ask how they could get the kids out of there. Sarah was one step ahead of him, though, and pulled a scroll and a boat-shaped amulet out of her bag.

Noticing Jared's raised eyebrow, she simply said, "Ruby said I would need a quick escape at some point, and I can't think of a better time to use it. The amulet contains the magic to summon her boat one time, and the scroll is the summoning spell."

"Ruby," he repeated. "Ruby Kane?"

"Of course," she replied in a _duh_ tone. "Do you know any other diviners?"

He wisely didn't answer, and moved the young children closer to Sarah as she started her spell.

Sarah always had been good with hieroglyphs, showing a natural ability to read them even before they graduated the scrying bowls. She had loved to tease him with the material, and the first thing she said to him all those years ago had been in correction of a mistake he made in pronunciation.

A boat came to rest beside him. He glanced over to see the small amulet dissolve into sand as she shoved the rolled up scroll into her bag. He gently lifted the boy and followed Sarah and the girl into the boat, which lifted into the air.

Leaving the covering of trees, the couple looked around for a road or any other sign of life from which the children had come, but there was nothing around. They soon stopped looking.

Settling in for the short ride back to Nashville, he studied the children. The girl looked to be about seven years old, maybe six, with how small she was. She had waist-length black hair that would usually be sleek and shiny, but with her injuries was more tangled and ratty. Numerous cuts and scrapes covered her light brown skin, her left arm appeared broken at the wrist, and she had large bruises forming on her shoulders.

The boy didn't look any better, with just as many cuts, except he also had a black eye forming and his pale white skin showed various bruises. He looked about five and had blonde hair, which was less tangled than the girl's, but only because it was shorter. It was still full of twigs and leaves. The youngsters looked as if they had been living in the woods for a while, until he looked at their clothes. They were torn, yes, but not because they were worn out. More like because they had been ripped while doing something.

Their outfits had decent-sized pockets, so he carefully dug out what was inside, hoping for some kind of identification, but not really expecting any. What seven-year-old has an ID? His search was rewarded with a rubber band, an eraser, and a small locket for the girl, and a matchbox car, several candy wrappers, and a Rockies pen for the boy. He set all their trinkets inside a Rockies ball cap he'd found next to the boy, then noticed something tucked into the girl's waistband, at her lower back. He pulled it out to reveal a pocket Bible. Upon opening it, he breathed a sigh of relief: there was writing on the first page.

"Presented to Machaela Louise Noland on the occasion of her seventh birthday." The boy's cargo pockets revealed a matching Bible, which said, "Presented to Jesse Lee Noland on the occasion of his fifth birthday." Both Bibles had the previous December listed, though Machaela had received hers on the seventeenth and Jesse his on the seventh.

They landed before he could say anything, so he carried both Bibles inside the hat as he moved the young boy, Jesse, out of the boat.

They barely made it to the door before Derald met them, his wife Penny close behind him. Penny immediately started fussing over the kids. In no time, Iskandar's primary healer was looking over the two, and shooing everyone else from the room.

Without anything else to do but wait, Jared and Sarah wandered down to Iskandar's room.

"Knock, knock?" Sarah asked, poking her head in.

"Hello, dear," Iskandar replied. "You found them?"

Jared walked in, shaking his head in amazement. "You sent us to get lost in the woods with only instructions to 'help whoever needs it.' I still don't know how you do that. How did you know we would find two kids in the middle of nowhere?"

Iskandar smiled, but strangely developed the sudden-onset selective hearing that older generations often have, as he ignored Jared's question with one of his own.

"Where are they?"

"They're in the infirmary with Will," Sarah answered. "He was very adamant that they be left alone, even when we protested that he shouldn't have to treat both at once."

"Then let us go see his progress." Iskandar slowly raised his thin frame from the chair, and for a moment seemed to need help, if the dimming hieroglyphs were any indication. But he managed to stay vertical, maybe to spite their attempts to help him. None could deny he had a mischievous streak a mile wide, and often did things just because he enjoyed others' reactions.

He led the way down the hall toward the infirmary, where they found Will making notes on a clipboard.

"How are they?" Jared asked.

"What in the world happened to these kids?" Will started at the same time, then simply kept going. "Broken wrist, concussions, cuts and bruises everywhere, and that's just the obvious injuries! They're going to be in here a while, and they may not even wake up for several days." He looked about to continue, but right then his face twisted, and he turned away to hide it, though Iskandar noticed. Will had children about the same age, and he was having trouble not picturing them as he treated these two.

"We don't know," Sarah answered Will's initial question. "We found them in the middle of nowhere. We don't even know their names."

"Actually," Jared jumped in. "That last part is not quite true." He reached into the hat he had left on a nearby table and pulled out the two Bibles. "I found these on each of them. They are Machaela and Jesse Noland. She is seven and he is five."

"Do those give any other info?" Sarah asked, taking the Books. Admittedly, she had never been interested in a Bible. What would be the use when her whole life had been focused on other gods? But, she did know they often had quite a bit of family information.

"Sadly, no," came the answer. "But look at their clothes." He picked up Jesse's shirt, which had been removed during Will's injury assessment. "This is brand new, as are all their other clothes." He folded up the collar to look at the size tag. "It hasn't even been washed. There's still a hole from the price tag."

"These kids are definitely from a family," Sarah agreed, "and their family is probably looking for them. Let's wait until tomorrow morning, to give adequate time for flyers to be posted, then send a couple initiates back to the towns closest to where we found them to look for Missing Person flyers."

They both looked to Iskandar who, being Chief Lector, would give the final say. At his nod, Sarah stepped out to find Derald, while Jared and Iskandar found seats near the beds. Neither wanted the children to wake alone in a strange place.

Iskandar eventually left to claim his bed, but Sarah found Jared still next to Machaela the next morning, fast asleep in the chair.

He jumped awake when she rested a hand on his shoulder. "Have you been here all night?" she asked.

He looked toward the two sleeping figures. "Yeah," he finally answered quietly. "I couldn't leave them in here. They're so young. They'd be scared if they woke alone."

She sat next to him, taking his hand. "We'll find their parents," she assured him. "They have to be frantic by now. We'll know more once the initiates get back this evening."

"Are they already gone?"

"Yes. They left at first light. They should be scouring the local towns by now."

He nodded, and they slipped into silence. Sarah finally shook herself out of her thoughts and stood, dragging Jared with her.

"Come on. We have work to do." Jared shook his head, but she continued. "I'll send Emma in here with them. She'll jump at any chance to get out of classes for a day, and she won't scare them should they wake."

He thought a moment, and seemed about to refuse, but the look on Sarah's face was one he knew well. He was _not_ going to stay in that room all day and so _help_ him should he try. He agreed with a sigh.

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	3. Chapter 3

Machaela and Jesse were never left alone over the next several days, but they never stirred in that time. Even Iskandar had taken a couple shifts, though he had to continue his travelling through the nomes a few days after they were found. He requested someone notify him when the children woke. The initiates sent out to look for flyers returned empty-handed, left with new search areas, and again returned with nothing. Local news broadcasts revealed no missing children. The only option left was to wait for either child to wake up and hope they know something. But even that was not a strong hope. Will, who had stayed behind at Iskandar's insistence, was worried about memory loss from the head injury, especially the longer they stayed unconscious.

Jared and Sarah had taken an interest in the youths, and had spent all of their free time in the infirmary waiting for either one to wake up. Finally, on the eleventh day after Jared first found them, they heard a small noise behind them. They paid no attention at first, assuming it to be someone passing in the hall, but then they heard it again. Sarah turned to check on the kids. Machaela was still out, and Jesse looked the same. Then his head turned. Moving slowly to avoid scaring him, she and Jared moved to stand next to his bed.

"Where am I?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"You're in the hospital," Jared answered him, keeping it simple. "How do you feel?"

Jesse slowly blinked. "Tired. Why is the ceiling rotating?"

Neither Jared nor Sarah knew how to answer that particular question, but they didn't have to. Jesse was already asleep again.

That first wake-up began a trend. Machaela woke up soon after, but for no longer than her brother had, and from there they almost started alternating. For the next week and a half, usually one, but sometimes both, woke up each day for progressively longer periods. In spite of this, however, the adults still had no idea who to contact. Whenever a child woke, they had no memory of waking previously, and reorienting them took priority over gleaning information. The one time they tried anything different, Jesse became so agitated Will worried he would reinjure himself. From that point on, anyone taking a shift to watch them was warned against asking questions without providing answers.

About a week after Jesse's first wake-up, as they were terming it, Sarah expressed her worries about their lack of memory to Will, who replied, "Remember, they went through a harrowing experience. Whatever gave them those injuries, it was traumatic. It took them almost two weeks to wake up the first time. It's going to take them a while to stay awake and start forming memories again. I won't be a bit surprised to see all but their most severe physical injuries heal well before their mind does."

His prediction proved almost right, as about five days later, Jesse woke up and didn't need orienting, somewhat.

"Who are you? Where am I? Where's Mama? Where's Daddy?" The questions flooded out in a torrent, all aimed at Sarah, who he'd seen first.

"Slow down, sweetheart," Sarah soothed, gently taking Jesse's hand. "My name is Sarah, and he is Jared. We found you in the woods, badly hurt. You're in a sort of hospital in the place I live, and you've been asleep a long time. Do you remember waking up before?"

Jesse took his hand out from beneath Sarah's, wary about the strangers but seeing no escape. "No," he answered shortly.

"That's okay," she quickly replied. "We haven't been able to find your parents. What are their names?

"Mama and Daddy."

Jared smiled slightly. "Have you ever heard anyone call them another name?"

He thought a moment. "You mean like Mary?"

"Exactly!" Jared's small smile turned into a grin. "Have you heard someone call your mom Mary?" Jesse nodded. "Have you ever heard your dad called anything but Daddy?"

He thought about that for a second, then had to shake his head. "Daddy's not at home. He's on a long trip. He's only Daddy when he's at home."

"Okay," Sarah was quick to answer. "You've already helped a lot. What about an address? Do you know where your house is?"

He took nearly a full minute, obviously struggling to remember, but shook his head. "I thought I did, but it's gone now. If I know it, why can't I remember it?" Jesse, young as he was, couldn't stay guarded and mistrusting for long.

"You got really hurt. It's okay if some memory is gone. You've remembered a lot more than we thought you would. Are you up for one more question?" Leave it to Jared to sucker Jesse in. It was already obvious that Jesse liked to be the one to know everything. Jesse nodded, eager to help. "Do you remember what happened?"

Jesse's face twisted, and for a moment, Jared thought the young boy would cry at the memory. "We were in an accident, right?" He struggled for a moment. "Or did we get lost? I—it's all confused. I don't know." By now, his eyes were trying to close, even as he struggled to remember what had happened.

"Alright," Sarah answered. "You helped us a lot. Thank you, Jesse."

He was asleep before she finished.

Machaela, of course, woke the next day, and had the same torrent of questions. "Who are you? Where am I? Mommy!" all aimed at Emma, the initiate who had been helping sit with the siblings.

"It's okay, M-Machaela," Emma managed, her slight stutter revealing itself at the end. She put down the textbook she had been reading and slowly came closer to the bed. "M-My name's Emma. You got hurt in the woods, and Jared and Sarah b-brought you here to help you get b-better."

"Where?" Machaela asked, slowly calming as she studied Emma's blonde hair. The natural highlights and lowlights, combined with her blue-ish eyes, reminded Machaela of someone, but she could not remember who. Emma seemed several years older than Machaela, rather like the big kids at school who were about to move to the high school, but the kindness in the older girl's eyes calmed Machaela. This girl wouldn't hurt her just because she could.

"You're in Nashville," came the answer. "In the Thirtieth Nome."

"Wh—Gnome?" The strange word derailed the next question. "What's that?"

"N-O-M-E," Emma spelled. "It's the name of this house."

"Oh. Where's Mommy?"

"We're trying to find them. Do you know your p-parents' names? Besides M-Mommy and Daddy, I m-mean."

Machaela had been about to reply with just that, but then had to think. "Mari—na? Mary? And…" She trailed off, trying to think of her dad's name, but struggling. "Poncho?" She shook her head. "No, I think that was a nickname. Leo? I—don't remember. It's confusing, like someone took all my memories and put them in a blender." She tried to remember where that description came from, but couldn't, eventually giving up and turning back to Emma. "What happened? Where's my brother? And—wasn't there someone else with me?"

Emma stepped to the side so Machaela could see Jesse. "We found you in the m-middle of nowhere in the woods about three weeks ago. B-Both of you had been b-badly hurt. He woke up yesterday, asking questions a m-mile a m-minute. Do you remember your names?"

That was easy to remember. "Machaela and Jesse Noland."

"Good." Emma said. Noticing Machaela showed no signs of going back to sleep quite yet, she handed the younger girl the Bible laying on the side table. "Jared found this tucked into the waistband of your shorts. Do you want to read it?"

Machaela's eyes lit up when she recognized it. She cradled the little Book in her hands, trying to remember something about it, then finally opened it. The inscription alone sparked a memory of a Christmas spent as a whole family, the last one they may ever have, if her suspicions were correct. Her mommy, daddy, brother, and sister were all there…

"Sister!" she cried, snapping out of the memory. "Is my sister okay? Did you find her too?"

Emma had to shake her head. "Only you and Jesse were in the area. I guess your sister stayed with your mom and dad."

"Just Mommy," Machaela answered without really thinking about it, starting to fall asleep.

"What?"

Machaela snapped back to attention, just for a moment. "Just Mommy," she repeated, drifting off. "Daddy wasn't there."

"Where was he? At home?"

"No, not at home." Machaela was barely awake by now. "Home is 'Rado. Daddy was on 'mportant trip." Her words were slurring together, and no sooner had she finished her sentence than she was asleep.

Emma slipped out, knowing neither would wake for a while, and quickly found Jared, who had set himself over the search.

"Machaela woke up," she announced as soon as she came in the room.

Jared immediately turned away from the newspapers he was flipping through. "Did she say anything?"

"She confirmed Jesse's and her own names and gave her m-mom's name as M-Marina or M-Mary." She paused a moment to get her mouth under control. M's were the hardest. "When I asked her dad's name, she said Poncho first, but decided that was a nickname, and suggested Leo as his actual name. Her m-memories are confused, too. She m-mentioned someone else b-being there, p-probably the sister she remembered a m-minute later, in addition to her m-mom, but her dad wasn't there."

"Where's her dad?"

"She didn't say. B-By that point, she was m-mostly asleep, but she m-managed that 'home is 'Rado', and her dad's on an important trip."

"Hmm," he mused. "Jesse mentioned that too. Thank you, Emma. I'll come take over sitting with them in a couple hours."

Emma didn't really want to go back to the quiet room. It didn't have enough noise for the organized chaos during which she loved to read, but she recognized the dismissal and left. At least her book was interesting.

Neither child woke the next day, or the next, which began worrying Will. Their physical wounds were nearly healed, and all involved hoped they would wake permanently soon. After nearly a month in their care, they looked forward to solving the mystery of the two children.

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	4. Chapter 4

The third day after Machaela last woke, Jared and Sarah were taking a shift in the infirmary. They had been in there for several hours already, playing board games to pass the time. They played mostly strategy games, as those were Jared's favorite, but, after getting trounced in Sequence, he suggested a game change. They were partway through their third game of Risk when a small voice announced itself.

"Wouldn't it be better to send your reinforcements through Australia instead of Asia?"

Jared spun around to find the boy, Jesse, trying to sit up and look at the game better. He turned back around to look at the board and grinned, before answering, "You're right. Good eye, but aren't you a little young for this game?"

Jesse shrugged, "I like Risk. It's fun with a large group. Where am I?"

Jared and Sarah exchanged a look. He might not remember a whole lot about waking the last time, and their location would over go a lot better if they could explain to both children at once. "We're in Nashville. Do you remember waking up last time?"

He thought a moment, pausing his attempts to sit up. "Yeah, kinda. You both were there. You wanted to know how much I remembered, and you said I helped you a lot by 'membering what I did." He had to sound out the longer words, but both adults were slightly impressed by his vocabulary. He stopped talking a moment, thinking. "You said you were trying to find Mama. Where is she?"

Neither adult said anything for a moment, and Jesse's face fell. "She's not here is she?"

"No, she's not," Sarah answered gently. "We know she's looking for you just as hard as we're looking for her, but we haven't caught up with her yet. Do you remember what happened?"

Jesse's face twisted yet again; apparently the memory was still too fresh. "We were in a car crash, right?" He peered over the game board at his sister, still asleep on the other bed. "Is Sissy okay?"

Sarah was quick to reassure him. "She'll be fine. We just have to wait for her to wake up. We don't know how to find your Mama, though. We were hoping you could help us."

"Help you?" he repeated. "With what? Aren't grown-ups supposed to know everything?"

Jared chuckled at the honesty. "Well, your Mama probably knows everything about you, right?" Jesse nodded. "But the lady at the grocery store wouldn't know anything about you at all, would she?" Jesse had to think a moment, but he eventually shook his head. "It's the same thing here," Jared continued. "We just met you, so we don't know where your Mama is. Can you tell us how to find her? Do you remember her name?" With no hits on searching by Marina or Mary Noland, they had to assume the name was wrong, but there were so many variations and similar names that without a location, they had no hope of ever finding the right one.

He gave them a look that screamed _duh, aren't you supposed to know that_ , and answered, "Name is Mama."

"Of course it is," Sarah answered. "But many grown-ups have more than one name. Have you heard how other grown-ups talk to your mama? What name do they use to get her attention?"

"You mean like Mary?"

Jared hoped this would be the last repeated conversation as he patiently answered, "Yes. Adults call her Mary?" Jesse nodded. "What about your Daddy? What do adults call him?"

Jesse shrugged. "Daddy's only Daddy at home." He paused, remembering something. "But one time we saw someone he works with. He called Daddy 'sergeant'." Jesse giggled as kids do when they hear a funny word. "That's not even a name!"

Both adults smiled, glad Jesse felt well enough to giggle. "When your Daddy goes to work, does he wear normal clothes, or does he wear a uniform?" Sarah asked.

Jesse grinned, proud to know this answer. "A uniform! Daddy said they're called BDU's."

Sarah made a mental note of that. Having family in the military meant she knew that a sergeant wearing BDU's could only be in the Army, Marines, or Air Force.

Jesse showed no signs of wanting to stay in bed, if his repeated attempts to sit up were any indication. He seemed to be quickly regaining his energy. "Since you're so energetic," Jared started, chuckling as Jesse grinned at finally managing to sit up on his own, "do you want to play with us?"

"I'm winning anyway," Sarah threw in. "You'd be doing him a favor to restart the game." Jared pulled a face at her for the teasing, but refrained from their usual bickering to turn back to Jesse.

At his enthusiastic nod, Sarah and Jared moved the game board to his bed table, where they proceeded to restart the game.

While he didn't win the first game, he held his own, and even surprised them by sounding out some of the more difficult words printed on the playing cards. He was coming from behind to win the second game—they had been playing about three hours—when Machaela woke up.

"Jesse, what has Mommy told you about talking to strangers?"

Jesse leaned to the side to see his sister's bed. "Not to," he answered, "but they aren't strangers. That's Sarah and Jared, and they found us and brought us here."

Machaela stared at them a moment, a bit wary, before answering. "Wasn't there someone else here? Emily?"

"Do you mean Emma?" Jared asked. At her nod, he continued, "She was here when you last woke up because Sarah and I were trying to find your Mommy, but right now other people are searching, so we came to sit with you. What do you remember?"

"I woke up and Emma was here. She asked questions I couldn't remember the answers to, and gave me my Bible, then I went back to sleep."

"Good," Sarah answered. "What about what happened? Do you remember that?"

She had to think a minute, but finally answered in more detail than they had expected. "We went—came? Are we still in Tennessee?" Sarah nodded, and she continued, "to Tennessee for a va-ca-tion." She had to sound out the word, as if she had spent a lot of time trying to say it. "On our way back to the airport from the state border, Mommy took a diff'rent way to show us a pretty view. A big car hit us from the side, and sud'nly I was flying through the trees. The leaves were pretty, until they moved to show the branches. Those hurt." She snapped herself out of the memory as her eyes filled up. "Is my sister okay? Did you find her too?"

Jared shook his head. "Only the two of you were in the woods. It sounds like you two were thrown from the car. We think your sister wasn't, so she's still with your mom."

"Why hasn't Mommy found me? How long has it been since the crash?"

Sarah hesitated. "It's been almost four weeks since the wreck."

She was about to continue, but Machaela broke in, "No! That can't be! Mommy would have found me by now!"

Sarah gently wrapped an arm around the girl as Jesse appeared at their side, having stumbled his way to the bed. Jared helped him crawl up next to his sister as Sarah answered, "I'm sure your Mommy's looking very hard for you, but she was in a major car wreck, and her search might have been delayed a few days after the wreck if she had been hurt, or if your sister had been hurt. Any number of things could have delayed her search. We've been looking for her, but we don't know enough to find her."

"What's Daddy's other name?" Jesse asked his sister. "They said it would help in finding them. I told them Mama's is Mary, but I've never heard Daddy's."

"Mommy's is Marie," she corrected, settling down into what Jesse called her 'big sister mode', "not Mary. Those words are spelled differently, Jessebear." She tousled his hair as she thought. "I've only heard Daddy's other name a couple times. Once when Mommy was trying to teach us our address at our old house, and once when we met someone he works with. It was Leo, I think? Or maybe it was Lee? I remember it being short like that. I told Daddy it was too slippery, and he should change it to an easier name."

Machaela grinned as both adults chuckled.

"You said something about your address at your old house. Do you know your address now?" Jared broke in.

" _Fue llamado alta vista_ ," she said, then corrected herself. "I mean, the road was called high view."

"What language was that?" Jared asked.

"What about the town?" Sarah said at the same time.

Somehow, she heard them both. "That was Spanish, I think. Languages are fun, but sometimes I get them confused. The town was—Vanda? No, that's not right. It had a lot of a's. Arvanda? No…"

"Arvada?" Sarah suggested.

"Yes! Arvada. Arvada, Colorado."

Jared smiled. "That helps a lot. Let me go make a few calls."

Leaving them to the game, with Machaela taking over his playing spot, he headed to a room on the top floor, where the youngest in the nome were sending and receiving messages. He had long ago gotten permission from Derald, the head of the nome, to commandeer a few scrying bowls to hunt for the kids' parents.

Upon entering, he found seven young teens with their heads bent over scrying bowls and notepads as they scribbled down various messages for the leaders and pertinent headlines from around the three-hundred sixty nomes. He waited a couple minutes before seeing two teens, a boy and girl, break connection. He tapped them on the shoulder.

After quietly relaying the conversation, he finished with, "Matt, contact the Fiftieth Nome. Ask Mandy to search the phone book for a Marie and Lee or Leo Noland living on High View in Arvada. Kayla, I need you to search newspapers and news stations around the Tennessee/Kentucky border due north of the airport. Look for anything that could point to Marie."

They turned to their tasks, and Jared stepped back to avoid distracting them. A couple minutes later, though, Matt waved him over.

"Didn't you say that when she first gave the street name she spoke in a different language?" he asked. At Jared's nod, he continued. "What language?"

"Spanish."

Matt turned and relayed this to Mandy.

"We have a High View Drive in Westminster, but not in Arvada." Jared could just barely here her voice through the oil. Scrying bowls were built for privacy, and rarely could you hear the conversation unless you were part of it. "However," a crackling came through the oil similar to turning pages, "we do have an Alta Vista in Arvada, which is Spanish for High View. That could be what she meant." She paused. "At Alta Vista and Delaware we have a Noland residence, but the first names aren't included."

Matt looked up to relay this, but Jared gave a thumbs up that he had heard it. As Matt signed off, Kayla looked up. She pointed out a picture of a news article visible in the oil. "It talks about a major wreck where a large SUV t-boned a smaller car, rolling it and ejecting two kids down the hill. The kids weren't found, but it mentions the family was on their way back from the kids' grandmother's house near the Kentucky border." She peered closer. "It was updated two weeks later. 'The kids are presumed dead. The mother, who declined to be named, refuses to believe her kids are gone, but was forced to return to Colorado for the health of her surviving child.'"

Jared grinned. "Good work! Update the Chief Lector. He said he wanted to be notified when we found the parents."

He quickly made his way back to the infirmary, where Sarah had resorted to watching the two siblings bicker and play the newest board game, which looked to be Clue.

Seeing him at the door, Sarah quietly left the bedside.

"Any luck?" she asked as she got closer.

"Oh, yeah. Want to come?"

"You bet I do." She looked back at the siblings, who had noticed her absence. "We have to run an errand," she told them. "Will you be okay here, or do you want me to send Emma in?"

They glanced at each other, then back at Sarah. "We'll be alright," Machaela answered.

"Did you find Mama?" Jesse asked from his spot next to his sister.

"Maybe," Jared answered. "We're going to talk to someone who may know where she is. We'll be back in a few hours."

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter and don't forget to review!**

 **Thanks to stormrunner74 for their review on the last chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5

Leaving them to their game, the couple slipped out and caught a portal to Arvada. The closest one to their destination turned out to be in a cemetery, and, off-track, Jared hoped it wasn't an omen.

They caught a taxi, and ten minutes later, pulled up in front of 1423 Alta Vista Rd.

A young woman answered the door. "Can I help you?" she asked.

"I'm Sarah, and this is my fiancé Jared. We're looking for Marie Noland."

"I'm sorry, dearie, but you missed her by a couple days. She just moved out."

"Moved out?" Jared repeated, his face falling. "Any idea where?"

The woman shook her head. "Her daughter seemed to be sick. She mentioned she had just divorced and was moving out of the city for her daughter."

Jared seemed to be out of words, so Sarah thanked the woman and guided her fiancé away.

"What would make her just up and move?" Jared wondered. "How could she leave the address her kids knew, so soon after losing them? Especially after refusing to believe her kids are dead?"

He seemed to be having trouble lining up the loving mother Machaela was so quick to defend with the woman who up and left her home, leaving no address. Sarah could understand, as she was wondering the same thing. She happened to glance across the street, where another lady stood on her porch waving to them.

"Are you looking for Marie?" the neighbor asked when they got close enough.

"Yes," Sarah replied. "Do you know where she is?"

"I'm sorry, I don't. But I do know why she left, which might guide you to where she is." She waved them onto the porch. "She and her husband, Lee, had been having problems for a while, and he had actually moved out shortly before she took the kids to Tennessee for a vacation. I don't think the kids knew what was going on. Then, after the crash, her remaining daughter seemed to withdraw. Marie was, of course, alternating between grieving for her other kids and trying to help Paiten through her grief, but Paiten seemed to be going through something more than just losing her siblings. She seemed almost," she paused, searching for the right word, "guilty. She seemed guilty about something, but no one knew what. The longer her siblings remained missing, the more she withdrew. Within three weeks of the accident, Marie told me she was having issues getting Paiten to eat. Marie eventually had to move her and attempt to restart, no matter that moving broke her own heart. See, she never believed her other kids were gone. She refused to believe they were gone."

"Do you have any idea where she might have gone?" Jared pressed. "Any at all?"

She started to shake her head, but stopped. "She had family near the wreck site. I guess it's possible she moved near there to restart and still look for them."

"Jared," Sarah broke in. "Didn't that news article mention the same thing?" At his nod, she turned back to the neighbor and handed her a card. "If she happens to contact you, would you give her this card, please?"

"Sure," she replied immediately, but added, "You never mentioned why you're looking for her."

Jared and Sarah shared a look full of sorrow before Jared answered. "Because now we have to go back to the hospital room and break the news that we didn't find their parents."

The lady gasped, her hand going over her mouth. "You found them?" she whispered.

Sarah nodded sadly. "They were thrown quite a ways into the woods, and badly injured. They just woke up enough to remember where their house is. We came as soon as we could, but…" she trailed off, looking back toward the house, "we're too late," she finally finished.

"Those poor kids," the neighbor—Sarah never did catch her name—murmured. "I'll definitely give your number should I hear from them again."

"Thank you," Sarah told her as they left the porch, heading back to the waiting taxi.

They told the driver to take them to a different obelisk, one in Westminster, and sat back to figure out a new path.

They were both silent for a few minutes, lost in their own thoughts. Suddenly, Sarah spoke up, thinking through it aloud.

"Let's assume the neighbor was right and she moved back near the wreck site. Where could she move?"

Jared slowly shook his head. "I was thinking the same thing, but there are too many variables. How close did she go? Same town or just the same region? Did she move to the middle of nowhere? There are some _tiny_ towns to the northeast. Did she go to a big city? Chattanooga is big enough to pose a problem finding one person who might not be listed in the phonebook, and that's one of the smaller cities. What job did she find? What school did she put Paiten into? She just got a divorce. What's her new last name? It could be weeks or months before she builds up enough history to find her, and even that's pushing it."

They were both silent a moment, then Jared spoke again. "We know their dad's name and rank. Would it be possible to find him through the military?"

Sarah slowly shook her head. "Lee is too common of a name, and we have no idea where he moved after the divorce. 'Sergeant' is a rank designation that, as a title, covers some five or six ranks, and three separate branches of the military wear BDUs. It would be like looking for a single piece of fur on Dozer." Dozer was going to be the name of the Boxer puppy they were waiting on. "Not to mention, the military doesn't exactly give out the names of its members."

He leaned back in his seat, head in his hands. "We've hit a dead end," he admitted with a sigh. "How are we going to tell Machaela and Jesse? Where are they going to go?"

Sarah grabbed his hand, trying to find any flaw in his reasoning, something to point out that made it possible to find Marie, but they were looking for a needle in a haystack without a magnet. If only there was a way to search a single directory for someone anywhere in the country, but phone books were regional things, and even then, they were huge. There was no way to find her.

"How about we adopt them?" Sarah asked. "If their mom moved to Tennessee, at least then they'll be in the same area and able to search for her."

He perked up a moment, but said glumly, "That won't work. I mean, I'd love to, but they're old enough to start training. They would have to go back to Egypt with Iskandar. To stay in Tennessee, they'd have to go into the foster system, and they might get separated there. Plus, the system might want to send them back to Colorado, since that's presumably where their father still lives."

"How about we ask them?" Sarah suggested. "They're smart enough to understand what's going on. Heck, Jesse's reading! Let's tell them what we know, and what the options are, and see what they say."

"So, since she's not living there, we think there's a small chance she moved to Tennessee to look for you," Jared told them.

They had come straight to the infirmary after returning to find Jesse and Machaela still curled up in the same bed, quietly reading their pocket Bibles. Sarah had given an overview of what they had learned, leaving out Paiten's declining health. She didn't think they should have to worry over their sister, who may even be getting better by now. Jared had taken over for the last part.

"Now you have a choice," he continued. "While we would love for you to be able to stay with us until we find your family, our superiors won't allow that. For you to live here, you have to go through the training in Egypt, and you may be sent here when you turn thirteen. We would send you with Iskandar, who is a close friend of ours and who guides the training, and he would take care of you there. Or, we could send you to child services, who would probably put you into foster care while they try to find your mom."

Sarah took over, wanting to make sure they completely understood before they decided. "If we send you with Iskandar, you can learn how to search for your Mommy, and he might help you search too, but you'll have to live in Egypt for a few years. If we send you to child services, they'll definitely search for your mom, but they won't teach you how to, and there's a chance you'll be split up."

"If we go to Egypt, will we stay together?" Machaela asked immediately.

"Yes," Jared replied. "Iskandar will make sure you stay together."

"Then it's no contest," Machaela said, instinctively clutching Jesse closer to herself even as Jesse pressed closer. "We won't be separated, not after losing Mommy, Daddy, and Paiten. I won't lose my brother too."

"Okay, then. I'm going to go call Iskandar. Sarah, would you fill them in on everything else?" He gave her a meaningful look, and she nodded.

"Everything else?" Jesse piped up.

"There's some basic info that everyone needs to know before starting their training in the First Nome, like why Egypt is called the First Nome," she said as Jared left.

"Emma called this place the Thirtieth Nome," Machaela remembered.

"Yes, Nashville is the Thirtieth Nome. Nome is a word used to describe a geographical area." She paused a moment, waiting for either to ask about the large word she used, but neither did. "When Egypt was an empire, the country was divided into nomes. Now, though, an element of Egypt is everywhere, so the nomes describe large regions, sometimes countries, or even whole continents, and there are three-hundred and sixty nomes, with the first being Egypt and the last being Antarctica. Are you following so far?" They both nodded.

"If I use a word you don't know, please ask, as this is important. In olden days, Egypt had magicians, who were a part of the _per ankh_ , or the House of Life. These magicians served the Egyptian gods, and learned how to use magic to do anything from healing a wound to building a pyramid. The House of Life is still around today, and, technically, so are the Egyptian gods."

"Wait a minute," Machaela broke in. "There's only one God, Jesus." She picked up her pocket Bible.

"There's a difference between God and gods," Sarah told her. "I don't know much about God, but that seems to be His name. The gods of Egypt have their own names, but god, little g, is a description. It denotes what they are. As opposed to mortal human or animal, they are gods. Isn't there a story about someone named Moses in the Bible?"

"Yeah," Jesse answered. "God told him to lead the Israelites from Egypt, and he had to face down Pharaoh, whose magicians could turn their staffs into snakes!"

"But Moses' staff also turned into a snake, and it ate the other snakes," Sarah finished. "He faced the House of Life, and he's the only one to have ever beaten the House in a magic duel."

"So, if the gods are real," Machaela started, "what does that have to do with us?"

"The gods are real, yes. But they are also very dangerous. Our mission for the last millennium has been to keep the gods locked up tightly. House Magicians do that. In the House of Life, whoever is Pharaoh is the leader, but since Egypt no longer has a Pharaoh, the Chief Lector, who served second to the Pharaoh, is our leader. Iskandar is our Chief Lector. He will be taking you to the First Nome, where you will study to be a magician."

"A magician," Jesse repeated. "Like David Copperfield?"

"Yes. David is actually a member of the House of Life, and he's built up a list of spells he can safely do in front of an audience without giving us away. You will learn how to be a magician, Iskandar will watch over you, and when you turn thirteen, you might be assigned to this nome, where it'll be easier to search for your mom. In the meantime, I'm sure Iskandar and some of the older magicians will help you search."

Machaela looked uncertain about the whole magician business, but Sarah could see she would do almost anything to stay with Jesse.

"We won't be expected to, uh, worship these gods or anything, right?" Machaela asked warily.

"Oh, no, no, no." Sarah's reply was quick and almost sharp. "The gods are not to be worshipped. They're to be feared, and they're to be fought when they escape their various prisons." She paused a moment, observing the duo's reactions. "Let me put it this way," she tried again, choosing her words carefully. "Egyptians believed that the two fundamental ideas in the world are Order, called Ma'at, and Chaos, which has its own word that you never want to say _or_ write without proper spells in place for safety. You'll learn to recognize that word in Egypt. Everything good stems from Ma'at. Magicians learn to call on Ma'at to go places and do things. From Ma'at came—what's the word?—spirits, that have control over certain parts of the universe. We call these spirits gods, but the gods don't have a good grasp on mortality, and in ancient times caused several accidents and hurt a lot of people. Because of this, we locked them away and now focus on drawing magic from Ma'at. Does that make sense?"

Jesse hesitantly nodded as Machaela suddenly spoke up. Sarah could nearly see the light bulb above Machaela's head as she thought of something. "Jesse, what was that verse you read me the other day? The one in Revelations with several names of God." Jesse looked at her blankly. "Remember? You told me you were going to memorize it?"

Just when she thought he hadn't memorized it, recognition flitted across his face. "That was in chapter nineteen, and it called Jesus the 'King of kings and Lord of lords.' You're thinking what if the gods exists under God, and have gone, uh, vague?"

Machaela looked at him funny for a moment before Sarah spoke up. "Do you mean rogue?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah." Jesse looked a bit sheepish. "Rogue, not vague. Vague means hazy." He noticed Machaela staring at him. "What? I've only seen them once! They were in that new dictionary Mama got me the oth—uh, the day before the wreck. They were two of the few words I found that I could kinda pronounce."

Machaela shook her head as she tousled his hair. "Only you would read a dictionary for fun. You're too nerdy for five years old. But, yeah, that's what I meant." She looked to Sarah, as the expert on this, for confirmation, but Sarah was stumped.

She thought about doing what many other adults do and making something up, but decided not to. "To be honest, I don't know. I've never really had much use for a Bible or learning about another deity, but it sounds good. If that's what works for you, go for it."

Jesse, too young to think about tact, made his amazement known. "No use for a Bible? Or for Jesus? But He loves you enough to die for you!"

Discomfort flitted across Sarah's face as Jesse hit a nerve. Many in her family had said much of the same thing over the years. But it was easier to brush off adult family members than it was this cute, outspoken five year old and his simple faith.

She was saved from answering by Jared's return.

"Okay," Jared told them, oblivious to the sudden tension. "Iskandar plans to come back through here tomorrow. Until then, you're stuck with us. Are you ready to get creamed at," he looked at the game currently on top of the pile, "Phase Ten?"

"You're on," Jesse challenged, easily distracted from the previous conversation.

Sarah stood up and started to slip out, claiming work needing done, but Machaela got out of bed and followed her to the door, though still a bit unsteady on her feet.

"Sarah?" she asked softly, too softly for her brother to hear.

"Yes, sweetheart?" Sarah looked down to see a particularly serious expression on the young girl's face, and knelt down to be closer to Machaela's level.

"Mommy's told him several times about 'picking the right time and place for certain subjects', and I think Mommy would say that, even if it might be true, his note about which religion you follow seemed to hit a tender spot. I'm sorry for my brother's—what's the word he would use? tact?—his lack of tact. We firmly believe that God created the earth in seven days and, when people did wrong and got parted from God, He sent His Son Jesus to bring us back. But we also know that not everyone believes that way, and Mommy says it's our job to love people, not pound Jesus into them."

Sarah smiled gently. "Thank you, dear. You're good at observing people aren't you?"

Machaela blushed a bit. "Mommy's busy with work and the house and with Jesse and Paiten, who's very talkative and more ADHD than we are, and Daddy has to work a lot. I wanted to help, so Mommy said it would be my job to help her with my brother and sister. She said that if I helped with the smaller stuff, she could get the big stuff and have even more time to teach us."

"To teach you?" Sarah asked as Machaela adjusted to lean against the wall.

"Yeah!" A smile split Machaela's face as she nodded. "After Paiten and I get home from school, Mommy teaches us all kinds o' stuff. School's just doing boring numbers and letters and some short reading, but Mommy helps us learn more, and Daddy helps some when he gets home. That's why Jesse can read and he's not in school yet. I don't like books as much as he does, but doing math is fun, and so is learning other languages."

Sarah brushed some of Machaela's long hair back from her eyes. "Like the Spanish you spoke earlier?"

"Uh-huh. I told Mommy I wanted to do Italian next, but now I don't think I'll be able to."

"Hmm." She posed a comical expression to get a giggle out of the girl. "I have an idea. Jesse and Jared are waiting for you, and I have some work to do. How about you go play your game, and, after I finish my work, I'll see if anyone in Egypt knows how to speak Italian. Does that sound okay to you?"

Machaela nodded. Her legs were tired of standing anyway.

"Okay, then. Go play Phase Ten with the boys." She lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, "I let Jared win one earlier, so he's set to lose one now. You want to take care of that?"

Machaela giggled again and nodded.

"Off you go."

Machaela and Jesse managed to stay up to a normal bed time that night, and spent the next day quietly (well, in relation to activity, not volume) playing board games, with Jared, Sarah, and sometimes Emma coming in and out to play with them as free time arose. Jared and Sarah also taught them a bit more of the basics before they went to Egypt.

 **Hi! This is coming a bit later than I intended, mostly because I, uh, forgot about it. Sorry. But reviews help me remember (hint, hint), so tell me what you thought!**

 **Thanks to Guest for their review of chapter 4.**


	6. Chapter 6

That evening, after dinner had long come and gone, Jared and Sarah came in leading a very old, thin man with extremely wrinkled skin the color of the paper bags in which some kids brought lunch at Machaela's school. He had a leopard skin cloak hanging from his shoulders, and hieroglyphs flowed into the air around him, which freaked Machaela out a bit, and freaked Jesse out more.

The stranger sat on the bed near them as Sarah sat next to them. Jared introduced the old man as Iskandar, who immediately started talking.

"I'm glad you are healed, children," he started, looking at them through milky white eyes. "I was here the day you were found. Jared and Sarah were quite worried for you. They tell me you want to go to the First Nome to train?"

Machaela answered, pushing past her nervousness about the stranger. "I don't want to lose my brother, so if that's how we stay together, then we want to learn magic until we find Mommy."

Iskandar looked at Sarah, who shrugged. "It was either have child services look, but possibly separate them, or send them to Egypt where they would at least have each other. They chose Egypt."

"Very well," Iskandar continued. "I am currently on a tour of all the nomes, excepting Antarctica and North Korea. Tomorrow evening I will be on my way to Alaska, to visit the Ninetieth Nome. What do you think about travelling with me?"

"We get to see places?" Jesse asked, momentarily forgetting his fear of the glowing man. "Like they do in books?"

"Well, I'll be going there to make sure each nome is doing alright and doesn't need help, and I'll probably be in meetings until midafternoon." He looked back and forth between the siblings. "However," he amended, "I think we can arrange for you to visit one place in each city. One…" he trailed off. "What term do you moderners use?" he finally asked.

"Tourist trap?" Jared suggested.

"Yes, one tourist trap per city. I am sure one of the ladies travelling with me, Sofia, would not mind helping you with your lessons during the day."

Machaela slowly nodded. "Okay. You'll help us look for Mommy and Daddy, right?"

"Of course we will keep looking for them. We will not give up. You will eventually find the rest of your family; it just might take a while since our primary method of communication, a scrying bowl, will only connect to a person if the other person has one too."

"A crying bowl? How does a bowl cry?" Jesse asked.

"A _scrying_ bowl," Iskandar pronounced slowly. "Essentially, it's a bowl that lets you watch a movie of someone that's real time. You will learn how to use and make them later on. For now, though, you just need to make sure this is what you want."

Machaela and Jesse looked at each other, then back at Iskandar, nodding.

"We will leave in the morning," he told them. "I'll send Sofia in to get you when it's time to go." He got up to leave, and Jared and Sarah followed him into the hallway.

"Do you see what I mean?" Sarah asked him.

"Indeed I do," Iskandar replied. "They are loyal for children so young and set on not losing each other, willing do anything to ensure they stay together, even if it means going to a strange country with strangers."

"They seem to trust Sarah and me," Jared noted. "I would say they're only willing because we support you. And because the other option is the system."

"You may be right, but it makes me wonder…" he trailed off.

When it became clear Iskandar wouldn't finish the thought, Sarah pulled out a letter she had written the night before. "Would you keep this in a safe place?" She made to hand it to him, explaining, "I don't think they need to hear the full, detailed story of how we found them and the search for their parents quite yet. This contains everything from us finding them to last night. Would you give it to them when they're ready? We hope to see them again, but the chances of that are small with how often we seem to move around."

"Of course, my dear." He tucked the envelope into an inner pocket, then shuffled down the hall back to his room. Jared and Sarah went back into the room for a last evening with the two kids they somehow thought of as their own, and later, just maybe, Sarah dug through her belongings for an old family Bible, telling herself she just wanted to mark one of the stories Jesse had expounded upon in his excitement.

Late the next morning found Machaela and Jesse standing on the roof next to Iskandar, several older magicians, and a kindly young lady named Sofia, who had proven to be excellent with children and, to Machaela's delight, also knew Italian. They had already told Jared and Sarah goodbye, and were now staring at a man chanting away while facing the rooftop statue.

"What's he doing?" Machaela finally asked Sofia.

"He's opening a portal. Do you know what that is?" Machaela and Jesse shook their heads. "A portal is a doorway between two Egyptian relics. It can only be opened at certain times, and it takes quite a bit of practice."

Jesse's jaw dropped when the swirling tunnel of sand opened, but his opinion quickly changed as he emerged on the other side, covered in a layer of sand.

"Blegh!" He tried to spit the sand out of his mouth. "Portals don't taste good!"

Machaela laughed. "Then don't open your mouth, silly!" She started looking around. They had appeared in the middle of a pine forest that looked so much like home, Machaela thought for a moment they were back in Colorado, but then the noise hit her. She could hear the ocean.

After a short walk through the woods, during which Sofia had to keep calling Machaela and Jesse back from exploring, they stepped out of the woods to the edge of a small town bordering the sea. The sun shone brightly, but it felt no warmer than the mid-sixties, making Machaela and Jesse grateful for the jackets Sarah had provided along with a few outfits.

They followed the group a few blocks into the bustling little town, feeling really small as events finally started catching up to them. They were in a strange city, with people they barely knew, to get an update on how a group of people studying Egyptian magic was doing. Machaela found herself gripping her locket, now hanging from her neck, and visualizing the two pictures placed inside. She hoped her parents were alright. Did her sister miss her? How was she settling in to their new home? What book had she found to read this week? How was Mommy holding up?

These thoughts and more swirled through her young mind as she entered a large house Sofia said was the Ninetieth Nome. She smiled and waved whenever introduced, but she felt overwhelmed enough to stay glued to Sofia, and Jesse followed her lead.

This house looked very much like the Thirtieth Nome: four stories with a Great Room in the middle and balconies on each floor overlooking the Great Room. Various Egyptian relics lined the walls, and when they peeked into a side room, they saw several big kids fighting clay men.

Torn between exploring and staying with Sofia, the decision was made for them when Sofia started talking with someone, using terms neither sibling understood. Growing bored, they started wandering through rooms together. On the upper levels, most of the rooms looked like bedrooms, though many had two or three beds in them, which didn't make sense. Who would want to share a bedroom with anyone but family?

The interesting rooms were on the first level. One was full of low tables, each with several large soup bowls. Machaela wouldn't let Jesse go inside to look closer, for fear he'd spill something, but both of them thought the liquid inside looked like oil. Having tasted the olive oil Mama used to cook with, Jesse couldn't understand why these weird people would want so much of it.

From there, several rooms were big and empty, like a school when all the students were at home. They wandered through hallway after hallway filled with empty rooms. Quickly losing interest, they decided to go find Sofia again, but then they found a doorway leading to stairs.

"Come on, Machaela!" Jesse called as he pulled her down this new direction. "Maybe there's something down here!"

Machaela hesitated. She doubted there was anything new down in the basement, and was kind of hoping to get Sofia to start on the Italian lessons, but she followed her brother. It was something to do, anyway.

They followed the flight of stairs down to a single room, tucked all the way in the back, as if to hide it. But this room was much more interesting. This one was full of displays on Egyptian magic. She found displays about the Pharaohs and pictures of old musty tombs. One wall had a mummy on display, and another showed a miniature of the Pharaoh's palace.

Then she found the most interesting display: one on magic. Hanging from one wall was a screen showing different options. Unsure what to pick, she read through all of them, trying to figure out what it was.

· Background

· Types

· Historical examples

· Activities

On the table below the screen, she noticed a piece of metal, some wood, and a small patch of soil at its base. By now extremely interested, she checked on Jesse. He was on the other side of the room, reading another display, and she turned back to hers. Why shouldn't she learn more about what she would be doing soon? It was always fun to be ahead of the class. She chose Activities, since Mommy had often commented she learned better by doing.

"Calling on Ma'at to build and create is usually done with the aid of a staff and wand, which help harness your inner magic potential. Even without those, though, many magicians are able to do simple summoning spells. For instance, this spell, spoken while holding the wood below, could be used to create your own staff, but will only work to the limits of your ability. This is one of the few spells with which a magician cannot exceed the limits of their magic reserves…."

 _So cool!_ she thought as she read. _Sarah told me what a staff and wand were, and said I could get my own eventually. Why not now?_ She didn't like the sound of "exceed one's magic limits," but the spell itself said that couldn't happen. It seemed pretty straightforward. So, after checking on Jesse again and reading the spell through once in her head, she picked up the wood and started reading the spell aloud.

Meanwhile, Sofia had been looking for the siblings. She had searched all through the crowd in the Great Room and kitchen, then started looking through the rest of the house.

 _I should have known they would start exploring,_ she berated herself. _Iskandar himself warned me they have ADHD. Where could they be?_

She knew the layout of this building, having visited many times, and soon found herself at the top of a long set of stairs. She nearly passed it up completely but for the slight glow coming from the room at the bottom. Wary, and nervous the two had gotten into something better left alone, she hurried down and looked in, only to find Machaela standing at one of the displays, reading something aloud and glowing.

Sofia nearly cried out, but Machaela was past the point of no return in the spell. Cutting her off now would make the spell backfire, but letting her continue might…Sofia had a moment of indecision, and that was all the time it took for Machaela to finish the short summoning spell.

The glow faded, and the stick Machaela had been holding lengthened, thickened, and darkened into a sturdy staff, complete with several hieroglyphs etched into the side. Sofia's jaw dropped. How did this seven-year-old slip of a girl with no magical training have the reserves to do a spell correctly?

Sofia hurried forward. "What were you thinking?!" she frantically asked Machaela. "You could've been hurt!" She started fussing over the girl, much as a mother would, though she'd only known Machaela about a day.

Machaela answered, full of innocence. "It said it was one of the few spells a magician couldn't 'seed the limits with." She paused, looking up into Sofia's worried face. "So I followed the directions and did it. Sarah 'splained what a staff was. I knew I needed one."

Sofia suddenly had trouble swallowing, but Machaela didn't notice as Jesse had hurried over at the commotion.

"You have a staff?!" he cried. "Cool! I want one." He turned to look at the hands-on display Machaela had read from, but Sofia intervened.

"Oh, no. We've had enough of that for one day. Come on. Back to the Great Room."

Still not really understanding why she shouldn't have made the staff, but not about to protest the lack of punishment, they followed Sofia back into the crowd, out the other side, and up to their rooms. Sitting on the bed munching the food she'd grabbed downstairs—she was ravenous—, Machaela studied the staff she'd been clutching. It was rather pretty, she thought. It had darkened from new wood to a light brown, like the color of the .22 caliber rifle her sister got when Granddad died. And the funny markings trailing up and down the sides around where her hand naturally fit looked perfectly, almost decoratively, carved into the wood. She had noticed several people in the crowd staring at it as they went by, maybe because of its appearance, but she wasn't sure.

"Because," Sofia replied when she asked, "most young magicians aren't able to perform magic for a year or two after their training begins. We start them simply, by working with scrying bowls, then move to harder magic from there. The only ones able to—well, we'll leave that be for now." She continued quickly, before they could protest the incomplete thought. "You'll begin working with your staff later on, but for now, leave it under your pillow. I'll teach you a way to conceal in it a couple days." Machaela opened her mouth to protest. She wanted to hear more, but Sofia would have none of it, continuing firmly. "Now, Jesse, I believe you had a book Sarah gave you that you wanted to read. Machaela, let's start working on your Italian. That is what you were about to ask, right?"

Both of them knew that wasn't what she had been about to ask, but Machaela recognized the look on Sofia's face as one her Mommy used often. The Look declared the matter closed, and if she pushed, she'd only get in trouble. Machaela nodded, and Sofia started the language lesson that took Machaela's mind off her homesickness, and, eventually, her questions about the staff.

The siblings spent the next few days adjusting to this new reality. Iskandar spent most of the days in meetings, but Sofia stayed with them. They wandered around the city some, torn between wanting to explore more of it and wanting to go hide in their bedroom. Alaska looked so much like home, it only made adjusting harder because both kids kept hoping to run into someone they knew, but then would remember they weren't in Colorado.

Soon enough, it was time to move on to the next place, and this became their routine. It was hard for Machaela and Jesse, this moving about all the time, but at least they were able to go look at cool stuff.

 **Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, and told forget to leave a review!**

 **Thanks to stormrunner74 for the review of the previous chapter**


	7. Chapter 7

Nine in the morning already, and Machaela didn't want to get out of bed. Yesterday had been long, and she was comfortable. She and Jesse had tag-teamed Sofia to let them tour Rome, and wow, they'd walked far! It'd been worth it, though. To see the Coliseum, the Sistine Chapel, and the Forum! She was in Heaven. And she got to practice her Italian, too! Their server at lunch had been so surprised when she ordered in Italian, and Sofia had said she spoke well, especially for only having been learning it for a year.

She rolled over and fingered her locket. What a year it had been. She couldn't remember all the places they'd been, but they weren't nearly done yet. She was glad they weren't done travelling, and that Sofia had kept up their lessons, but what she didn't like was how hard it was now to remember her parents. She was continually looking at her locket to remember their faces, and their voices were getting fainter and fainter. She'd cried the day she realized she couldn't hear Daddy's laugh anymore.

Jesse said it was harder for him to remember. He barely remembered faces, and then only from the pictures in her locket. He always wore the Rockies hat, though. He watched the baseball games almost as much as they read their Bibles, and she knew he was trying to remember the games they'd gone to as a family.

They still had no leads on their parents.

Iskandar promised he was inquiring everywhere they went, and getting everyone stateside to help, but so far, they had gotten nowhere. The rest of her family had dropped off the planet, and by now even her enthusiastic, optimistic little brother had stopped asking for updates as much.

A knock sounded at her door, and Sofia poked her head in.

"Best get moving," she admonished, "or we won't have time to go to the Basilica today."

Jesse had asked to go to the Basilica. The Catholic Church had some amazing architecture, and even at almost-seven he had found a hobby in types of architecture. She didn't mind much. She'd dragged him around yesterday on her day to pick their activity, and today was his day. Besides, while she didn't agree with Catholicism, she couldn't deny their churches (had Sofia called it something else? Cadillac? No that's a car. Caddy—no. Cattiness—not it either. Cath—y? Nope. Oh, well) were cool to look at. Most buildings just weren't built like that.

She finally managed to roll herself out of bed and get ready.

As she left her room to go get breakfast, she heard a loud thump from next door. Peeking in, she had to laugh. Jesse was lying on the floor tangled in his covers, and Iskandar was standing over him, holding the mattress and chuckling.

Iskandar looked up at the noise, eyes twinkling with laughter. "I warned him," he said. "I told him if he did not get up we would do it the fun way." Jesse groaned from his spot on the floor, obviously debating whether to make a comeback or just go to sleep there. He chose a safer third option, opting to just get up.

They had warmed up quite a bit to Iskandar in the past year. Machaela was no longer afraid of the hieroglyphs around him, and Jesse's fear of them had been subsiding since Iskandar explained why they appear. Iskandar treated them like a grandparent should, Machaela thought. He was kind to them, and helped where he could, but left most of the parenting to Sofia. She thought that was what a grandpa was supposed to do, but didn't know for sure. They rarely visited her Papaw, and Granddad had died when she was two.

Iskandar had also proven to be mischievous, prone to playing pranks and expecting pranks in return. She never knew when she would wake up to find spiders hanging from the ceiling or open a door to have a bucket of water dump on her head. She and Jesse had had to work together to get him back for several pranks.

They hurried through breakfast, and a couple hours later, they walked into the Basilica and lost all track of time. The architecture was amazing! Soaring ceilings covered in frescoes of the early church, high columns, tilings of Biblical scenes, all on full display. They'd lost Sofia in the crowd a couple times, and Machaela was having trouble keeping up with her brother. They spent hours darting room to room and identifying scenes, then went outside to explore the gardens. While nothing was in bloom, it was a gorgeous day, and the leaves were beginning to change color.

Soon enough, though, it was time to go back to the Casa di Roma, or House of Rome and nome headquarters. Nobody wanted to leave, but they slowly made their way back through the Basilica and to the Piazza. It was there, though, Machaela felt something weird. The earth moved beneath her feet! She grabbed Jesse's hand and turned to ask if Sofia had felt it, but she didn't need to ask. Sofia's face showed worry, and she hurriedly glanced around before hurrying them back toward the center of the walled courtyard.

They only had a few seconds before the ground began moving again, much harder.

The first jolt knocked them all to the ground. Machaela immediately hugged Jesse close, thankful there was nothing nearby that could land on them. Sofia huddled over them, reassuring them as the shaking lasted well over a minute. Looking around, through the protective boundary Sofia had thrown up, they could almost see the vibrations in the ground, and the walls of the Basilica vibrated quickly. Jesse noticed a corner of the roof collapse on an outbuilding and cracks run up the courtyard walls.

All around them, people were panicking, running from buildings, falling, getting up, and running more. Sofia had to shove one lady to the side when the lady nearly ran over the small group huddled on the ground. The woman simply cast a dirty look, totally uncaring that she'd nearly run over two kids, and kept running and falling.

The shaking seemed to last forever. Cracks ran beneath their feet and dust filled the air around them. The cracks lengthened and widened, growing up the columns around the Piazza. A particularly strong jolt shook the area, and the press office just outside the courtyard collapsed, sending more dust into the air and making it difficult to see or breathe.

Finally, the ground stopped shaking, and the trio got shakily to their feet.

Large cracks snaked over the brick, running up walls and through buildings without regard. The press office was the only collapse, but several of the outbuildings had minor roof damage, and the Basilica's dome had a crack in it.

Walking proved challenging. After letting the dust clear, the three of them started making their way toward the exit, but everybody who had been inside was now outside, and the area that was crowded before was downright packed now. And, of course, everyone packed into the courtyard wanted _out_ of the courtyard, and the debris-clogged gateway was just too narrow to fit them all. Plus, even those who didn't know anything about architecture knew well enough not to touch the columns that _were_ standing, which made the area people could walk through that much narrower.

Slowly moving with the crowd toward the exit, Machaela and Jesse had an extra problem. Several of the cracks snaking through the ground were easily wide enough to make an adult take a large step to clear, which meant any kids had to take a leap to clear it.

The widest of these cracks lay right before the only exit, and even some of the adults were having trouble. Machaela and Jesse stopped at the edge and just stared. The crack wasn't that deep, but deep enough to discourage trying to jump in and climb out the other side, and they knew there was no way Machaela was going to make it, much less Jesse. They started looking around for a way to jump the gap. None of the other people in the area were paying any attention, too focused on themselves, and Sofia was also trying to make sure none of the overenthusiastic tourists behind them shoved them down into the crack.

Finally, Machaela made up her mind and reached into her pocket, drawing out a small pocketknife.

" _Heqat_ ," she whispered. Her staff, the same one she had created a year before, expanded in her hand.

Both Jesse and Sofia looked over in surprise. "Why do you have that out?!" Sofia furiously whispered. "We're surrounded by witnesses!"

"You said magic is hard to see," Machaela pointed out. "Besides, how else are we going to get out of here?" She turned to face the large hole, and said a single word: " _Drowah._ "

In the year they had been traveling, both Machaela and Jesse had been working on their magic. They hadn't decided on a specialty yet, but they were advancing faster than other initiates usually did, mainly because they were getting one on one training and had already shown their potential. Due to this, neither Sofia nor Jesse were particularly surprised when a shimmering blue boundary formed, bridging the gap. Knowing the boundary wouldn't last long, the three of them hurried across it, and as Sofia had taught them, nobody else noticed the bridge or their actions. The boundary dissolved once they were safely across.

With that problem taken care of, they squeezed out the gate and hurried toward the Casa di Roma. But even hurrying didn't move quickly. The Metro was closed due to tunnel collapses, and Sofia heard one group talking about a train (the one they would have taken had they been on time, coincidentally) trapped in a collapse. People crowded in the streets, gawking at collapsed and damaged buildings, and blocking any kind of motorized transportation.

They ended up squeezing through the crowd, trying not to lose one another, to walk the two miles or so back to the Casa di Roma. It should have only taken them about forty-five minutes, but due to the crowds and several blocked routes, the walk took nearly triple that. Throughout the walk, aftershocks rippled through the city, collapsing more buildings and panicking people anew.

They finally stumbled up to the house just before dark, exhausted and hungry, hoping they could just go raid the kitchen. Inside, though, they found mayhem. Absolute mayhem.

Magicians were running in circles, gathering spells and trying to see if anyone else had more information than they did. Some people were missing, and several small groups discussing search grids and rescue methods passed the trio on the way out. Others were patching up the house, as the roof was sagging slightly and the floor in the atrium had crumbled. Iskandar was pacing back and forth, refusing to listen to suggestions that he should avoid overdoing it, while others around him folded up a map that looked a lot like a most direct route to the Vatican.

Machaela and Jesse, not knowing what was going on and more concerned with food and sitting down, quickly left Sofia behind in a beeline for the kitchen. Sofia, though, let Iskandar see her. He immediately started rattling off questions in Greek, confirming her suspicions that he'd been worried about them.

"Ανακακμπτκας! 'Oθι 'ησθα? Αρα ακηρατος εις? 'Οθι εισι?" he rattled off.

Sofia wasn't the greatest at translating Greek, though she knew a few words, and ended up turning to one of the passing healers for a translation.

"You are back! Where were you? Are you alright? Where are they?" the healer translated before rushing off.

She assured him, "Yes, we're fine. Tired, but fine. All transportation is down. We've been walking since the quake. Machaela and Jesse ran towards the kitchen."

Iskandar visibly relaxed, sinking into a nearby couch as he called out to the group with the map to the Vatican. "Αναπαυε μαστευοντα! Ανακακμπτκασι!" _Stop the search! They're back!_ He apparently still hadn't realized he was speaking in Greek, but even Sofia figured that phrase out.

Another aftershock, the strongest since the first quake, rumbled through right then, shaking the house and sending Machaela and Jesse scurrying out of the kitchen. They didn't want to be alone in the event of another large earthquake, so they ran to Sofia, who was closest. By the time they reach her, however, the rumbling had finished, so they settled onto the couch next to Iskandar.

Munching on the chicken Jesse had found in the fridge, Machaela watched Sofia hurry away in search of food before speaking up. "Why were you searching for us?"

Iskandar looked askance at her. "I was worried for you, of course! You told us you would be home hours ago! When the earthquake hit, you should have been on the Metro, so we were searching tunnels and planning where else you could be."

Machaela and Jesse both looked a bit sheepish. "We didn't want to leave, yet," Machaela answered, "so we were still in the Pi-az-za when the earthquake hit."

"The Cathedral is beautiful, isn't it?" Iskandar asked after a pause, apparently going to let the topic drop. "I remember when it was built. The world was in awe over Michelangelo's paintings." Jesse perked up and looked at him, recognizing an architecture lesson, but right then one of Iskandar's aides came over.

Glancing at the siblings, the aide said in Greek, "Everyone is accounted for. We have transitioned into looking for innocents."

"Thank you," Iskandar replied in kind. "See that healers are on standby to help any injured."

Unknowing of the change in language, Machaela was simply trying to figure out a word. Giving up, she whispered to Jesse, "Transitioned?"

"Changed," he whispered back. "You could understand him?"

Machaela looked at him weirdly, "You couldn't?"

"I caught some of it, but not all of that was English."

"You sure?"

Jesse turned to Iskandar instead of answering. "What language was that?"

Iskandar chuckled. "Alexandrian Greek. Mitchel remembers how much I enjoy speaking my native tongue."

"All of it?" Machaela clarified.

"Yes, of course," Iskandar told them. "Why do you ask?" The siblings had come to enjoy the acknowledgement of having a mind of their own. Iskandar never talked down to them because of their age, but this time they didn't want him to know what was on their mind.

"Just curious!" Machaela grinned, knowing Iskandar could probably see through it, but not giving him the chance to question. "Com'on, Jesse. Didn't you have something you wanted to show me?"

"N—" Jesse didn't even finish his word before Machaela was dragging him back towards their neighboring rooms, leaving Iskandar staring after them, wondering what they were up to.

"What was that?" Jesse asked from the safety of their room.

"You only understood a couple words of that?" Machaela asked instead.

"Well, yeah. I thought he was talking in a mixture of English and some other language."

"But _I_ thought he was speaking English," Machaela countered. "He said he was speaking Greek, but I understood him. How is that possible?"

"You understood all of it?"

"Yeah. That guy, Mitchel, said that everyone was present and that they were now looking for non-magicians. Then Iskandar thanked him and asked for the healers to remain on standby. Mitchel agreed and left."

Jesse shook his head. "I only got the general idea: that everybody was counted, and that healers should do something."

By now, Machaela was pacing, much like she'd seen Sofia do in the past year, and any adult watching probably would have found the eight-year-old cute. "But how did I understand it? I know Spanish and Italian. Greek isn't even _remotely_ similar."

Jesse looked at her, amused that she was acting like Sofia but also trying to figure this out. "But what about me, then? I could only understand part of it, but I'm also two years younger."

This made her pause. "Are you suggesting this is somehow gen-et-ic? Is that the word?" He nodded. "If you're right, that would mean in a couple years you'll be fluent."

Jesse grinned widely at this. "This could be fun, though." Machaela raised an eyebrow, suddenly reminding Jesse of his Mama. He blinked back the tears the memory gave and tried to hold on to the memory while continuing his thought. "Iskandar says anything he doesn't want us to know about in Greek."

"So if we don't tell him we understand it," Machaela finished, "we can get the backstory he might not want us to hear! Perfect! We just have to make sure never to speak Greek around anyone but each other." She paused. "One problem, though. I can't tell the difference between Greek and English. When I got to that point with Spanish, I had to be careful not to mix my languages up, and if someone spoke to me in Spanish, I would unknowingly answer in Spanish."

"That's easy to fix. Just make sure we don't say anything right after we hear something in Greek."

"But how will we know we just heard it in Greek?"

That gave Jesse pause. "I can still tell them apart," he finally answered, "and we're never separated. For now, I can be the judge of what language it's in, and you'll be in charge of translating and remembering. Maybe by the time I'm close to fluent you'll be able to tell them apart."

She thought about that. "Okay. I can sorta tell the difference with Spanish now, since I've kept studying. Maybe I'll soon get that with Greek. I just wish we knew _how_ we know Greek. Neither of us have studied it."

"Well, if it's genetic…" Jesse trailed off.

"You don't know a language because your parents know it. Besides, I may not know who my birth Daddy is, but Mommy and Daddy are definitely your Mommy and Daddy. Mommy always said she had video, whatever that means."

"What if your birth Daddy is someone Greek, and he somehow managed to teach it to you without even being here?" Jesse asked, teasing. "And he's part of a big group of Greek people that all speak Greek without ever having heard it."

"And maybe there are other kids like us that know the language and consider everyone else who knows it family?" Machaela asked, trying to keep a straight face.

Jesse nodded, his face twisted as he tried not to laugh, but Machaela burst out laughing, and Jesse couldn't keep a straight face any longer.

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	8. Chapter 8

"You are needed."

The three of them looked up from their game. Machaela and Jesse had begged him to teach them an Egyptian game, so they were working through a game of Senet, with a new book up for grabs, and Machaela was winning, to Jesse's chagrin. Jesse pulled a face as Iskandar waved the aide over from the door.

"It is well after supper. What is so important you must interrupt when you were told otherwise?" Iskandar asked calmly.

The aide started talking quickly, explaining his errand. Machaela kept eye contact with Jesse, though, who nodded almost immediately. The aide had switched over to Greek, and they shouldn't say a word until addressed.

Machaela and Jesse had both gotten better at Greek since they realized they could understand it, just over a year previous. Searching the internet and asking vague but pointed questions had finally revealed that they understood Attic Greek the easiest, but Iskandar's Koine (pronounced coin-ay) Greek was similar enough to remove any issues. They quickly found a website written in this ancient form of Greek, and discovered they were almost as good at understanding from reading it as they were from hearing it. Since they had practiced whenever they were left alone, now even Jesse was almost fluent. He was still better at differentiating between the languages, though.

With the aide's first sentences in Greek, the siblings feigned an interest in looking out over the city as they listened in. Currently in Jerusalem, the Seventh Nome, Machaela and Jesse enjoyed looking over their balcony to the sea of people below. They had already enjoyed their tourism day. Both had wanted an extensive tour of the Holy Land, and they had spent the two days roaming all over the major places in the Bible. It had been their favorite activity in the two years of travel.

Jerusalem would be the final stop in their tour, and this time next week they would be in the First Nome at last. Jesse was excited at the prospect of all the new buildings to look at and books to read, while Machaela was just glad they would soon be settling down. The almost-ten-year-old's memory of the day-to-day life in a happy family had steadily faded over the last two years, but as much as she liked exploring, she wanted the normalcy of a routine. Plus, the First Nome might bring answers; she refused to give up hope that they would find news of her family.

She fingered her locket as they listened, a nervous habit she had developed.

"A village in northern Egypt, Al-Hamrah Makan, is under attack as we speak. They need help."

"Do we know what is going on?" Iskandar looked worried, though Machaela tried not to show she was watching that closely. Iskandar was too intuitive for their secret to stay safe if he caught her reacting to his words, and the duo had grown to enjoy being up to date, even if many would say they were too young. They thought they should be allowed to know what to expect, since even though Machaela and Jesse though of them as almost-family, Sofia and Iskandar weren't with them enough to count towards "raising" them. Essentially, the siblings were raising themselves.

Machaela and Jesse were both finding it difficult to keep a straight face, though, as the aide launched into a debriefing. The village, which Machaela thought translated to The Place of the Red Sands, was apparently under attack by the-snake-they-weren't-allowed-to-call-by-name. A local famer had brought home a statue and released the monster trapped within. One local magician had sent out a quick distress call, but they had lost contact.

At this, Iskandar got up and quickly left the room, only telling Machaela and Jesse to stay put, Sofia would be with them soon, and that they would finish the game later.

As soon as they were alone, the duo quickly started debating what to do, and trying to figure out what would happen next. Would they be going to Egypt early? What was happening to the village? Was there any way they could eavesdrop on the rescue mission?

That question pulled Machaela up short. _Was_ there a way to watch the rescue? Between the two of them, they knew several spells. Since they knew the name of the place, could they use one of those spells to follow the action?

"I don't think we can," she finally answered. "None of the spells they've taught us watches someone like that."

"Maybe they simply haven't taught it to us," Jesse decided. He pulled one of their spell books off the shelf and started flipped through it. "Here it is." He pulled a list out of the book: all the words of power they had learned compiled on one sheet. He started reading down the list, thinking aloud as he went, "Don't need water. We're not trying to strike. Open? No. Bind? No. Speak? That won't work either…"

"Wait a moment," Machaela interjected. "Go back. Could we combine two of those to make it work?"

He read through the list again. "Maybe open and speak?"

Machaela nodded. "Exactly. A summoning spell combining those two words—"

"—should open a viewing window that shows whatever we want!"

"Wait a minute, though. I just thought of something." Jesse looked at her. "We are _so_ dead if they see it."

"Then we'll just have to make it invisible," Jesse snarked back, reading his list yet again. "We can add hide," he decided. "Sofia said that was the basis of an invisibility spell."

"Yes," a voice behind them said, "and I also said that you weren't allowed to try the invisibility spell until you were older. What are you doing?"

Jesse looked up hurriedly, and Machaela spun around to stand in front of him, keeping her face unsurprised, to find Sofia standing in front of the door, arms akimbo. "Reviewing our old spells," Machaela said quickly. "Iskandar rattled off a few things in that weird language of his and ran off in the middle of our game, so we're gonna play a prank in retaliation. He totally deserves it. We just haven't figured out what and when yet."

Sofia's fierce look and stance softened a bit. Rarely a week went by without a prank war going on, so this was nothing new. "I'll leave the what up to you," she told them gently, "but you might have to wait a bit for the when. Iskandar just took the closest portal to Egypt, along with the best magicians. A village is under attack and he went to go help."

"Bummer," Jesse said. "Does that mean he's not coming back to finish our game?"

"You'll probably have to resume it in Egypt. We're going to meet him at the First Nome tomorrow evening." She paused, expecting them to groan at the change of plans, but they said nothing, hoping she would hurry up and leave the room. "So why don't you two play a different game? I'll be back in soon to help you get ready for bed." When neither sibling protested her leaving, she did just that, hopefully thinking they were just bummed at the change of routine.

The moment the door closed behind her, they jumped into action. Machaela locked the door to avoid being surprised while Jesse got out a summoning scroll, and they quickly reworded it to fix the spell and add in their own words. Finally, they were ready, and, as they finished reading, a shimmering appeared in the air, then a scene.

Staying absolutely quiet, since they didn't know how much, if any, sound would travel through, they watched as Iskandar, now much healthier than he had been when they first met him, led a group of magicians toward a column of smoke. Their view kept up with the ragtag group, and Machaela had to stifle a gasp when they finally saw the monster. A large, three-headed snake rose from the smoking ashes of a small village. Figures lay all around, motionless in the red sand, and both children pointedly avoided looking closer.

At the appearance of the group, the snake slithered forward, away from the ruin and toward the new movement, and a short battle ensued. The magicians threw spells left and right, and the combat magicians jumped into the melee, various weapons flying. Both Jesse and Machaela ended up focusing on remembering as many spells as they could rather than the battle itself. After all, how _else_ could they win the bet on most spells learned by the end of the year?

It was a short battle, and soon enough the large snake was a harmless pile of sand. The magicians stood there a moment, catching their breath and surveying the damage. Then they split up and started digging through the rubble, obviously looking for survivors.

Their viewing screen followed Iskandar, which made them nervous about getting caught, but they soon realized he was preoccupied.

He slowly paced off a section of burnt rubble, turning over chunks of grass and trying to wake the prostrate figures. Time and time again, he touched them, got no response, and moved on.

Then he tensed and tilted his head, as if listening. There! They could hear it too: a faint whimper. Iskandar hurried as quickly as he could toward what looked to be a fire pit. One of the huts had collapsed on top of it, and he started digging.

He removed the last layer of reeds to find a young girl hiding beneath. She whimpered again and tried to burrow further into her hiding place. Iskandar stayed where he was, waving others over to help, and started talking to her.

Machaela and Jesse couldn't understand him, though Machaela recognized a few of the Arabic words. After a couple sentences, she slowly leaned forward and let Will take her. Will carried the girl, who looked about Machaela's age, and the rest of the group followed as they left the village ruins behind. One survivor out of the whole village.

Right before Machaela reached out to cut the feed, Iskandar stood straight, then looked directly at them. Machaela swiped through the scene before he could react.

"You think he busted us?" Jesse asked.

Machaela took a deep breath. "I don't know. Let's not bring up anything we saw, though, just in case he didn't figure it out fast enough." _But who are we kidding?_ Machaela thought. _Of course, he figured it out. But will he do anything about it?_

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter and don't forget to review!  
Thanks to stormrunner74 for their review of the previous chapter.**


	9. Chapter 9

Would he do anything about it?

Apparently, not right away.

The next morning, Sofia rousted the siblings early. After packing their few belongings, their group opened a portal to Egypt, the First Nome, arriving just before noon.

At least, they thought they were going to the First Nome. When they cleared their eyes of the sand, though, they found themselves on a cold tile floor.

"Where are we?" Jesse asked, brushing the sand from his clothes.

An announcement echoed from speakers overhead, and Machaela spoke up. "Better question, why are we in the Cairo airport?" Jesse followed her gaze to a large "Welcome to Cairo!" sign as she continued. "I thought we were going to the First Nome?"

Sofia herded them along as she answered. "We are. The First Nome is in Heliopolis."

"Which is in an airport?!" Jesse asked, confused.

"Which is _under_ the airport," Sofia corrected. "Come. We must hurry."

Behind them, Jesse saw a policeman staring hard at them, possibly wondering where they had come from. They hurried out of sight; the man did not follow.

Sofia led them to a maintenance door, which led to a broom closet. She muttered a command—" _Sahad_ "—and the closet shimmered to reveal a stone staircase going down into darkness.

"Robbers pillaged the ancient city centuries ago," Sofia told them, "carrying away some of its monuments. Then most of the temples were broken down to make modern buildings. The rest disappeared beneath the suburbs of Cairo, the largest section of which is under the airport. But," Sofia continued as she carefully positioned them in the middle of the group, "not all Heliopolis is in ruins."

They descended into the gloom.

The tunnel was much smaller than the siblings had expected, and, while they were small enough to walk normally, the adults all had to crouch and crawl. There was also no light in the gently-sloping tunnel, and it would have been pitch-black if it were not for the torches a few adults around them carried. This was still not enough, however, as the long shadows from the people between them and the torchbearer made seeing near impossible, especially for the siblings. After only a few minutes, the duo had accumulated a twisted ankle and a few bruises from smacking into rocks.

"That's _enough_!" Machaela finally decided, aggravated at the lack of light after seeing Jesse smack his shin into yet another hidden rock. Sofia stopped and looked back at the noise, just in time to see Machaela make her own light.

" _Sah-te_!" A small flame lighted on Machaela's hand, and Sofia's jaw dropped.

"How did you do that?" Sofia hissed.

Machaela looked at her, a bit startled. Sofia had never spoken to them like that before, and Machaela was slightly afraid to respond. Sofia's eyes were wide, so she was scared, but she also looked angry. Machaela went the safe route and just shrugged. She refused to say it had come naturally. She wanted light, so she said light. The fact that she picked up the Ancient Egyptian language without being explicitly taught seemed inconsequential to her.

Sofia opened her mouth to inquire again, but then checked herself. She saw Machaela shrink back, wondering why she was in trouble for doing a spell, and Jesse, while rubbing his shin, was slowly coming closer, as if ready to jump between them. Sofia berated herself, _Nice job,_ idiota _. You scared them._ She consciously made an effort to relax and change her tone, then tried again.

"How did you know that spell? I never taught it to you. Did Iskandar?" Machaela shook her head. "Then how did you know it?" Machaela shrugged again.

Sofia let it drop. The rest of the group was moving, and she had scared the girl enough. She would apologize later, but for now, she started trying to figure out how Machaela had done a spell without someone teaching it to her.

Machaela's light helped her and Jesse a lot, and they managed to reach the end of the tunnel without any more injuries. The tunnel opened up, and the entire group slowed. People seemed to be going through single file, and a moment later Machaela and Jesse understood why.

The tunnel opened into a large chasm. Only a wooden plank crossed the chasm, and the others in their group were crossing one after the other. Each, upon reaching the other side, entered a doorway between two statues, said something, and bowed to someone the siblings could not see.

They slowly moved forward, and started to cross when it became their turn, but Sofia pulled them aside and let the others go ahead.

Jesse looked up, about to ask why they had to wait, but Sofia beat him to it. "This is an entrance to the First Nome, the oldest branch of the House of Life, headquarters for all magicians. You will be challenged, and each magician must unbar the path for himself or herself. The challenge is different for everyone, and the two of you are both old enough; you must face whatever test you meet."

They waited for all others in the group to pass to the other side, then Sofia guided them to the edge.

"Think clearly. Stay confident. Eldest first," she told them, then took a step back.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Machaela summoned her staff and stepped forward.

Unsure what to expect, she moved steadily across the plank, her head on a swivel looking everywhere but down. She had been up high before, and she never liked it. She just hoped whatever this test was came from another direction, because she knew if she looked down, she would freeze in panic.

Nothing happened at first, and she walked steadily toward the opposite side. Then, as she got closer, the doorway began to glow. She raised her staff and kept walking.

A boomerang shot out at her. _A boomerang?_ she thought. _Why would…?_ Not about to let it touch her, no matter how harmless it seemed, she smacked it with her staff, sending it crashing into the side of the chasm. She caught a glimpse of metal, and realized the boomerang was actually an Egyptian throwing stick with a blade added.

The first apparently a test of its own, now several throwing sticks shot out at her. There would be no way for her to hit all of them with her staff.

Acting purely on instinct, she raised her staff in front of her and called out a command.

" _Sont khok_!" Her staff glowed, and the walls around her rumbled. Then, rocks and debris flew from the chasm below and the walls surrounding her, coalescing between her and the flying weapons, effectively blocking the blades from reaching her.

Her makeshift shield protecting her from the projectiles, she finished crossing the chasm. Once in reach, she slashed her staff through the doorway, which stopped glowing, and stepped through, leaving her now crumbling shield falling into the chasm behind her.

Waiting for her was a _ba_ , a five-foot-tall bird with the head of a man. He looked at her for a moment, then smiled. " _Pari_ ," he told her, which she did not understand, but, since he had already turned his attention to her brother, she took to mean she passed.

Jesse, meanwhile, had been watching with his jaw dropped. _Where did she learn that language?_ he wondered, and marveled at the magical shield she had created. He watched as she reached the end of the chasm, then step out of sight through the doorway. He knew she was waiting just inside, but the separation still made him nervous.

Sofia nudged him, and he took a deep breath, clearing his mind. Withdrawing his kopis, which he had claimed from an armory in one of the nomes they had visited, he stepped forward onto the plank.

His test arrived in the form of arrows. As he passed the halfway mark, the doorway glowed red again, but then dimmed. Another glow to his right caught his attention, and he turned just in time to avoid a stray arrow. A steady stream of arrows was firing across his path, but immediately he noticed a pattern.

He studied it closer. Yes, there was a definite pattern to the arrows. A path free of danger crossed the chasm, then started over and crossed the chasm again.

Instinctively, he calculated angles, cross sections, and trajectories, then, as the pattern started again for the third time, he ran in.

In the back of his mind, he registered Sofia behind him stifling a cry. He was, after all, running into the paths of arrows, but he stayed focused.

Staying in the steadily moving clear space, he worked his way across with nary a scratch. Only twice did he even need his knife to deflect a stray arrow.

Finally, he reached the dimly glowing doorway. Slashing at the glow, he walked through to find his sister staring at him, eyes wide. The _ba_ gave him the same smile and command he had given Machaela, " _Pari_ ," and disappeared after Sofia crossed and bowed.

Sofia turned to them once the _ba_ left, studying them in a new light, then wrapping Jesse in a hug. "You scared me half to death jumping into those arrows!" she admonished. "Why in the world did you do that?"

"I wasn't in any danger," Jesse told her. "There was a pattern to the arrows. A clear space crossed the chasm, then started over and crossed again. I just stayed in the clear spot."

"A pattern?" she repeated, surprised. Jesse nodded, and Sofia shook her head. "Only you would be able to find a pattern where no one else could." She wrapped Jesse in another hug before turned to Machaela.

"How did you know that command?" she asked.

The girl shrugged, but refused to answer, remembering the events in the tunnel.

Sofia stared at her a moment, then seemed to understand. She knelt down to Machaela's level.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you in the tunnel," Sofia told her. "You surprised me by knowing the language without being taught. I don't know of anyone else who has a way with languages like you do, and it surprised me then when you knew the spell for light, and now when you built that shield. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that, though. Forgive me?" Machaela nodded hesitantly. "Thank you. Now, let me try this again: do you know how you knew the spell?"

The girl shook her head. "I just knew. I thought of what I wanted, and said it. Hearing, or even thinking, the words, I didn't understand them, but I knew they would do what I wanted."

"When you crossed, the _ba_ should have said something to you. Did you understand him?"

Machaela shook her head again. "He said ' _Pari_ ', but I don't know what that means. Since he didn't say anything else, I just figured it meant I passed."

"You're right," Sofia responded. "It literally means _Go forth_." She glanced back toward the chasm to ensure they were still alone, then said. "Check your magic. Are you still good?" Machaela closed her eyes and concentrated, then nodded. Sofia handed her a lit torch. "Then let me watch you. Put the flame out. Use only one word."

Machaela focused on the flame, imagining it gone. " _Taka_." The flame went out with a hiss.

Sofia took a deep breath, and released it with a sigh. "Okay, here's the deal," she told Machaela. "You are a natural with Divine Words, one of the paths of magic. However, this path was restricted long ago, and most magicians work _years_ to master just a few words. We will find your secondary specialty and work on that. Until the rule changes, tell _no one_ about this, except Iskandar, and try to stick with other spells besides Divine Words whenever possible, okay?" Machaela nodded. "This type of magic is not specifically banned, but if you are seen using too many of these words too soon, you may be accused of being a godling, which _is_ banned and is very, very serious. Understand?" Machaela nodded again. "Okay." Sofia stood, mussing Machaela's hair as she did. "We've lingered here long enough. Come on."

She led them through the tunnel, which opened into an infinite series of halls and chambers. Machaela and Jesse had trouble keeping up, as they kept slowing to look at their surroundings. Ceilings soared upwards of thirty feet, and every wall and corner was decorated with stone Pharaohs, columns brightly painted to resemble palm trees, and copper braziers burning various types of incense. The rooms smelled wonderful, like a spice market. Cinnamon, clove, nutmeg: every room smelled different.

They saw people, too, though fewer than expected. One area had a young lady commanding a bucket, mop, and broom in cleaning up the floors. They passed a man walking a panther on a leash, a middle-aged woman chanting a spell, and an elderly couple sitting on a bench. Another couple, a dark skinned man and a blonde haired, fair-skinned woman, were discussing something intently on a bench near a fountain.

They passed through a hall with jackal-headed statues—maybe a shrine to Anubis? Jesse had trouble understanding what that hall was for, but they went through too fast for him to explore. The jackal hall gave way to a series of other halls seemingly themed after various gods and goddesses. One was covered top to bottom in frogs, while another had thousands of cats lining the walls. Both Jesse and Machaela found it rather creepy.

Soon enough, though, they left those behind for an open-air market. Or as open-air as it could get, being underground. Scores of stalls lined what appeared to be the main road, selling everything from staffs and wands to amulets and spell ingredients. Jesse made the mistake of lingering at one, and Sofia had a hard time dragging him away. Apparently, the vendor had not learned the word _no_ , and kept trying to sell them something even as they left earshot.

They followed this main road toward a river and a collection of buildings on the far side. Crossing the river, both Machaela and Jesse took note of the schools of tiger fish in the water. They would find a different place for a swimming hole.

Sofia led them toward the largest building, but on the way, they passed a scrying room, and the siblings peeked in. Around thirty kids sat on cushions, hunched over scrying bowls and muttering under their breath while taking notes on scrolls. The room looked under-filled, though, as it was built to hold maybe twice that.

"You will spend some time in there," Sofia told them as she hurried them away, "but mostly because we don't have enough scryers. Your training has surpassed the typical range for scryers, but you are still young enough to find it easy. We must move, though. Iskandar is waiting for you."

That hurried them along, and they walked a bit faster and stopped less. The large building seemed always just around the corner, but each time they thought they were almost there, they came around another building to find their goal further away.

Finally, they reached a set of massive bronze doors. Fires blazed on each side, and the door was sealed with a per-ankh, the symbol for the House of Life. Sofia placed her hand on the seal, which glowed, and the doors opened.

"You are entering the Hall of Ages," she told them. "Do you remember the rules for this room?"

The siblings nodded. "Don't look at the pictures and no pranks," they said in unison.

Sofia nodded. "Good. Come along."

The duo did well, and never looked straight at the displays on either side, but neither could resist peeking. Looking past the many hieroglyphs floating in the air—a sure sign Iskandar was near—they watched the sun rise above an ocean, land emerge from water, pyramids being built, and wars for countries, all from the corner of their eyes.

The walked on and on, giving Machaela and Jesse a better understanding of Egypt's age. Though they had heard about it for the last two years, it had never really hit home until they walked a mile or more past display after display and age after age of Egypt's history.

Hatshepsut, Nectanebo II, Ramses, Thutmose III, all displayed on the walls, showing bits and pieces of history. The one that caught their attention, though, was a man in ragged clothes whose staff turned into a snake and consumed a dozen other snakes.

"Moses," Machaela breathed. That had been the first Bible story their Mom had told them, and it had always been their favorite. Sofia glanced over, then purposely stood between the siblings and that picture, knowing the two would have difficulty not looking.

Passing the New Kingdom, they walked through Ptolemaic times, which seemed sadly short in comparison to the other ages, and finally reached the end of the hall.

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	10. Chapter 10

An empty throne stood on a dais, a gilded wooded chair with a flail and crook carved onto the back. A man the siblings did not recognize stood behind the dais, but Iskandar sat on the second step, where he had said was his place.

Upon seeing him, the duo ran to him, giving him a hug and trying to get a banter going about his leaving them. They kept up a façade of teasing, but they were mainly trying to figure out what had happened to the girl.

This attempt went down the drain, however, as the strange man behind the dais made a fuss at their behavior, even though Iskandar was smiling at their chatter.

"What is the meaning of this?!" he ranted in a heavy French accent as he stormed to the front of the dais. "Such disrespect! You should be ashamed of yourselves!"

"Desjardins," Iskandar said calmly as Machaela and Jesse hid behind him from the crazy stranger. "Machaela and Jesse have lived with me for two years now. They have no reason to be formal."

"You are the Chief Lector!" Desjardins started again.

"A fact of which they are well aware," Iskandar cut in, then switched to Greek, "Though I am beginning to wonder if you remember it." Desjardins stilled. "Leave it be," Iskandar continued in Greek. "They are children, and they know me. They have not been formal in the two years, and I do not expect it from them now. I will teach them that when it is needed. You may go."

Desjardins left stiffly, and Iskandar turned back to the siblings as Sofia chuckled behind her hand.

"Who was that?" Machaela asked after ensuring she spoke in English, warily watching Desjardins' retreating figure.

Iskandar sighed. "Michel Desjardins, second most powerful magician. He is also quite a stickler for rules, and very prideful. Stay respectful, but avoid him whenever possible. I do not want him to have a chance to harm you. But anyway," he changed the subject, "I believe I owe the two of you a game of Senet."

Machaela and Jesse both made as if to speak, but Sofia spoke up first. "Before you do that, you need to hear about their challenge, and I believe they had something they wanted to ask you, if their chatter a moment ago was any indication."

Iskandar looked through them with all the knowledge of a parent catching the child in the cookie jar, making the siblings gulp before quickly shaking their heads.

"I see," Iskandar said. "We can speak back here."

He led them behind the dais to a camouflaged door, which led to what appeared to be a strategists' room, though rarely used. Machaela and Jesse explored the small room while Sofia relayed what had happened at the chasm. When she finished, Iskandar turned to Machaela.

"You cannot translate the words, but you can use them for spells?" She nodded, and he seated himself to think on it. "The only explanation is that you were simply born with the ability," he eventually said. "We have a woman who is a natural diviner and a man who is a natural sau. Why not a natural with Divine Words? Sofia is correct, though. This is not a natural affinity you want to advertise. However, those good at Divine Words usually have a secondary skill at which they are inherently decent, and this skill is usually something related to what they already enjoy doing."

"I like to build stuff," she replied.

"That, you do. You managed to rewire a toaster earlier this year."

Jesse snickered. The toaster singing "Old McDonald" had won them a prank war.

Iskandar smiled gently and said, "Have you ever experimented with shabtis?"

Machaela looked at him askance before replying slyly, "You haven't taught us about shabtis yet."

He gave her a look. "That's not what I asked."

Machaela looked at him innocently, but he didn't let up. He had used shabtis in front of them many times, including for pranks. She finally slumped in defeat and held out her hand to Jesse, who shook his head. He pulled a misshapen wax figure from one of his many pockets and handed it over. "This is as far as I've gotten," she said as she handed it to Iskandar. "You don't want to activate it. In fact, please don't activate it without letting us put in earplugs."

Jesse shivered. "I didn't want to know those words, and I definitely don't want to know what they mean."

"Oh, really?" Iskandar replied, possibly not understanding their reference. "Unfortunately, I must activate it in order to correctly gauge how far you have gotten. This room is soundproof, however. How about you step outside a moment?"

"Gladly," Machaela said. Jesse was already out the door.

When they came back inside a minute later, both adults' faces were a bit red. Iskandar cleared his throat, uncomfortable. "No, you definitely do not need to know what those words mean. This is relatively simple to fix, though. Check your magic. You have done a couple spells recently, and one of those was rather large."

"I can do a few more before I'm in the danger zone," she replied.

"Okay, then. You want to _correct_ the shabti."

Machaela took out her staff to use the magic stored there instead of her own reserves and concentrated. " _Phakri_." The wax figure glowed, then changed shape, turning from a misshapen humanoid to a Doughboy look-alike without legs.

"Congratulations," Iskandar told her, a smile on his face. "You now have a shabti. You can program him later. And Jesse," said boy wiped the slightly jealous look off his face, "you will not prank your sister in any way that results in a change of ownership of her shabti. Understand?" Jesse nodded. "You will learn to make one when she finishes hers."

Machaela hurriedly shoved it into the Duat (Iskandar had taught them how to store items in the Duat long before) as he continued.

"Now, I know there was something else…" He trailed off, trying to remember. Machaela and Jesse, knowing where this was going, shook their heads. "Ah! You had a question for me. Might it have anything to do with a young girl found alone in a village?"

They had been shaking their heads through most of his speaking, but as he got to the end of the question, they slowly stopped. They didn't want to lie, but they certainly didn't want to admit they had been eavesdropping. They kept quiet, which was actually an answer by itself.

Iskandar smothered a grin. "I thought so. How about this? If you tell me how you watched, I will take honesty into your punishment—" He broke off and stared at them a moment, then crossed his arms. "You were planning a prank in retaliation for my leaving so quickly, were you not?" They slowly nodded. "I guess I should have said something before leaving. I will grant you that. No prank and tell me which spell you used, and we will call it even and you may meet the girl later. Deal?"

They exchanged an amazed glance, not expecting his leniency, then nodded furiously. "Deal!"

"Start talking, then."

Machaela shrugged. "It was just a summoning spell," she answered.

"We reworded it to include the city name, plus _speak_ , _open_ , and _hide_ ," Jesse added. "It was easy."

"It appeared like a shimmer in the air, then showed you like scrying without the bowl and oil."

"How much did you see?" They looked at each other nervously. "You know the consequences for lying," he warned.

"It picked up as you climaxed the hill at the village, before the Cerberus snake saw you," Jesse finally answered.

Iskandar, about to reply to that, suddenly realized what he had said. "The Cerberus snake?" he repeated, eyeing them in a manner that made them wonder what was wrong.

"Yeah," Machaela answered. "Like the three-headed dog in the Greek myths. The creepy snake had three heads."

"How long have you been reading the Greek stories?" Sofia asked, sharing a look with Iskandar over the siblings' heads.

The duo shared a look. That question was full of landmines. The two were, of course, still hiding their language fluency. "About a year," Machaela answered, trying to be honest but not forthcoming. "We started reading the myths after hearing someone speak the language, and it went from there. The myths are interesting." Machaela hoped her phrasing let the adults assume they had heard it in Greece, which they had visited about eight months before.

Iskandar studied them a moment before replying, determining their perspective. He finally accepted that they were simply interested in the myths as stories, not as truth. "Very well. You may be interested in a collection of myths from various cultures in our main library. Sofia or I will find it for you later. For now, though, let us finish that game. Now that we are back in Egypt, my schedule will pick up and we may not have as much free time as we have in the past."

A few hours later, as Jesse was coming from behind to win the game and the book, Sofia delivered a message from an aide at the door.

"She's awake."

Iskandar looked up, raising an eyebrow in question.

"And itching to get out of bed," Sofia added.

He nodded, but finished the game before standing. Knowing good and well that the siblings would follow him no matter what, he waved them along as he walked to the infirmary.

Machaela and Jesse, even while trying to take in their surroundings, made sure not to lag behind. The infirmary was two buildings down from the Hall of Ages, and quite a bit bigger than they were expecting. Twenty or thirty beds lined the walls, which were covered with modern hospital equipment.

Two beds were occupied, but only the closest curtain was open. Machaela and Jesse peeked in to see the young girl from the village sitting on the bed. She had a small frown on her face, but she quickly erased it when Iskandar walked over.

He addressed her in Arabic, calling her Zia and asking how she felt, which reached the limit of Machaela's knowledge of Arabic. She and Jesse had stayed at the doorway, close enough to hear but far enough to give a semblance of privacy.

The girl, however, looked mystified, and answered him in quiet English. "Who is Zia? What language is that?"

Iskandar looked slightly concerned and sat on the end of her bed. "You told me your name was Zia when I found you," he answered her in English. "'Zia Rashid, daughter of Amal and Rana Rashid.' And you spoke in Arabic then. Do you remember any of that?"

The confused look on her face morphed to sadness. She shook her head.

"Do you remember anything at all?" Iskandar asked her gently. She shook her head again.

He started talking about the attack, keeping his word choice vague and simple and telling her about how a farmer in her village had accidentally released a monster, which destroyed the village. When they got there, she was the only one left. "I found you in the fire pit under a pile of reeds. You told me your name is Zia and you are eight years old. Your mom had hidden you in the reeds before she went to help your dad fight the monster." Throughout his account, she had listened attentively, but without a spark of remembrance. Even hearing about it had not jogged her memory.

When he finished the story, he gave her a moment to respond. When she didn't, he said, "I would send you back to your village, but the monster destroyed it completely. You can stay here, if you like."

Machaela and Jesse had to use extra effort to stay quiet at this. They both thought it would be awesome to have a friend. Zia had a question first, though. "Where is here?"

So Iskandar explained about the House of Life, magicians, and magic. Zia took it all rather well, but he didn't know whether that was because of her memory loss.

"So if I stay here, I'll become a magician? And I could kill the monsters?" she asked when he finished explaining.

"Yes, I am sure you would make a fine magician," Iskandar replied. To bolster her spirits, he added, "You may even learn to control one of the elements, like fire. You do not have to stay here, though. There are other places I could take you, if you prefer."

Zia had made up her mind. At her quiet, "I want to stay here," Machaela and Jesse were hard pressed to stay quiet.

Iskandar smiled. He knew what the small noises coming from the corner meant. "There are two kids here who would like to meet you. How would you like to explore your surroundings while I set up a place for you to sleep?" She nodded hesitantly, and Machaela and Jesse hurried over from the doorway. Iskandar, however, stopped Machaela on his way out. "Stay out of the Hall of Ages," he told her, "and do not touch anything. Meet Sofia at the bridge in four hours." After she agreed, he left and the three introduced themselves to each other. Though Zia was noticeably shy, she hesitantly agreed to explore the First Nome with Machaela and Jesse.

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	11. Chapter 11

Sofia was pacing back and forth across the bridge. Back and forth. Back and forth. She looked at her watch for the umpteenth time. "Where are they?!" she asked the empty air.

The trio was late, but not by enough to warrant a search—yet. She paced the bridge for several more minutes. Just before she was ready to start looking, she heard something.

"Hurry!"

"Come on! We're _so_ dead if she starts searching for us!"

"Which way?" The voices faded a bit, then came back.

"No! This way! There's the bridge!" Machaela, Jesse, and Zia came into sight, weaving their way between the handful of people at the market and sprinting toward the bridge. They arrived a moment later, all three of them breathing hard.

"Sorry," Machaela said when she got her breath back. "We got lost in this giant cave filled with birds, then we had trouble remembering the way back."

Sofia had been standing stiffly, irritated at having to wait for them. Her anger slowly faded, though, as she saw how out of breath they were from running. She also knew how easy it was to get lost here, and could lay no fault on them for that.

"No harm done," she said shortly. "Just try not to let it happen again." They nodded quickly. "Come. I'll show you where you will be staying."

They followed her back toward the Hall of Ages building. On the other side, Sofia led them into a long, low building within sight of the Hall, then in to a series of bunkrooms. Machaela and Jesse were tense. They both knew about the dormitory set-up here, and they were prepared to put up a fuss if they were separated like that. Sofia, however, passed the bunk-style rooms and went to a different hallway. She opened the door to a small apartment.

"Zia," she said. "You'll be here. For the first year, you and a tutor will have this apartment. Iskandar's main rooms are at the end of this hall, and, if you would like, we might be able to arrange for you to have your lessons with Machaela and Jesse. That depends on where in the curriculum you all test."

Zia made no answer as she gazed around the entry space. Exploring with the siblings had eventually taken her mind off her lack of memory, but now she felt all alone in a strange, new life. Nothing looked familiar, and if she was honest with herself, she was scared. She felt lost, and now she would be left in an apartment with another stranger?

A knock sounded at the door, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"Zia," Sofia said, "this is Lina. She's from a village very near your old home, and she'll be your tutor for this year."

Lina smiled at Zia. "Hello, dear."

Zia looked up at her with a small greeting smile, trying to form a frame of reference. Lina looked a lot like Zia herself did, with dark hair and brown, almond-shaped eyes. She was dressed in loosely fitting clothes, and struck Zia as easygoing upon first glance. Lina smiled gently at Zia, but didn't move closer, likely seeing how nervous Zia was.

Machaela, seeing Sofia wanting to leave but not until Zia was alright, stepped up to Zia. "Are you okay?" she asked, putting her hand on Zia's shoulder. Zia slowly nodded, but continued staring at Lina and her surroundings. "I know you're nervous," Machaela continued. "We were terrified when we first left with Iskandar. A car crash separated us from Mommy and our sister, and then we had to go with these strangers. But Iskandar and Sofia are like family now. We'll be around, too. You're not alone."

Zia focused on Machaela. They were so close in age, but were still completely different. Machaela was a lot more bubbly and outgoing, while right now Zia was just scared. Something in Zia said she was naturally bubbly and happy, too, but without a memory to pin that to, she withdrew into a shell, trying to protect herself.

She forced a small smile, though. "Thanks, Machaela."

Machaela looked at Zia worriedly, wanting to help but not knowing how. She let Sofia lead her and Jesse out to the hall. The last she heard, Lina was asking if Zia would rather settle in or go to the fountain to get to know each other.

Machaela and Jesse followed Sofia further down the hallway.

"These will be our rooms," Sofia said, opening the second-to-last door. Inside was a simple four-room apartment. The door opened into the kitchen/living area, which was furnished with a small couch, coffee table, and a mini kitchen. Three small bedrooms branched off the main room, each containing a small cot, dresser, table, and chair.

"Usually," Sofia began after they had looked around, "initiates live in the dorm after the first year." Machaela's head snapped up at this, ready to protest. "But," Sofia continued, "since the dorms are separated by gender, and Iskandar promised you would not be separated, these will be your rooms until you are assigned to another nome. I will be here with you in the evenings, but I believe you are ready to start the regular lessons with the rest of the initiates. Iskandar has set up a test for you tomorrow to determine where in the curriculum you will start."

As Sofia finished, Machaela and Jesse wandered away to choose their rooms, only to find they had already been chosen. Their few belongings had been placed in the two rooms furthest from the door. Coming out of their respective bedrooms, both siblings did a double take.

"Why is the wall glowing?" Jesse asked.

Sofia spun around. Before she could reply, the glow died to reveal a doorway. A moment later, Iskandar opened the door, prompting smiles from both Machaela and Jesse.

After the initial surprise that Iskandar had just created a door between their rooms, he sat down with them on the couch. Machaela and Jesse both wanted to know what would happen, and they may as well go over it now.

"Tomorrow morning," he started, "you will start into the official curriculum of a magician. I have asked Liv to test you. Before the test, she will hand you purified water to drink, and draw Ma'at on your tongue." He looked at them seriously. "You will not like it, but just go with it. It will not hurt you, and Liv does not appreciate sarcasm during the purification. Depending on the results, you will either go to the regular lessons in basic magic or, more likely, you will have identified a specialty and will find someone with the same specialty to learn from."

"Should I hide my ability with Divine Words?" Machaela asked.

"Yes," Iskandar replied. "Say no more than one in the entire test, and make sure it is one I taught you. We do not want anyone to accuse you of anything. I will be very busy with meetings, and there is a chance such an accusation would be dealt with by another."

Sofia leaned forward in her seat beside them. "Bring your staff and wand. Jesse, bring your _kopis_. Often, tests include a duel, and you want all your magic with you."

"Okay." Jesse wiggled, not enjoying sitting still when he wanted to explore. "Anything else we should know?"

There was silence for a moment, but then Iskandar answered, "You will do fine. There are three other new initiates testing tomorrow and one of them is Zia. Just stay calm, be honest, and try not to show off." He gave them a wry smile, knowing well that they would have the most training of the testing initiates. "If you make it to the dueling stage, try not to hurt each other."

Machaela and Jesse both laughed. They had dueled a bit before, and usually ended up destroying the dueling arena rather than hurting each other. The topic changed to general knowledge about the First Nome, which they went over until Machaela and Jesse's brains hurt.

Finally, Sofia told them, "That's enough for tonight. I'm sure Iskandar has work to do, and you two need to finish setting up your rooms."

Checking the time, Iskandar agreed and hurried back to his rooms, so Machaela and Jesse went to the bedrooms.

Machaela gazed around her new room. Her Bible rested on the table and her clothes were in the dresser, along with a few plain, white cotton clothes. Those were probably the uniforms Sofia had mentioned in her "general knowledge" spiel. In the bottom drawer, she found her magic kit, containing twine, paper, and ink. She drew her wand and staff from the Duat and put them in the satchel.

She retrieved her wax shabti from the Duat and sat staring at it instead of putting it into the satchel. She had watched Iskandar form a shabti just a few days before, one that looked remarkably like a person, and thought it would be great to watch the test proctor's reaction should she need and use a shabti, especially if she managed to make it appear as if she called him up fully made.

She got up and glanced into the kitchen; Sofia wasn't there. Machaela made her decision. She walked back to the far corner of her room, behind her bed, put her back to the door, and set the shabti on the ground. _I want to teach it everything_ , she thought. The phrase came instinctively.

" _Kabe-ter phetrim_."

The wax man glowed, then a voice behind her said, "Great minds think alike."

Machaela jumped like a rabbit, twirling around to find Jesse standing in her doorway, laughing. "Sorry, Sis," he got out, "Didn't mean to scare you."

She shot him a dirty look, but let it drop. "Are you preparing for tomorrow, too?" she asked instead.

He nodded. "Iskandar hinted that we're first tested on spells, then dueling. If we do well on dueling, they'll give us another test to affirm our specialty."

Machaela stared into space a moment, lost in thought. Abruptly, her eyes cleared, and a mischievous smile crossed her face. "Want to have some fun with it?" Jesse, who had been fiddling with his magic bag, stared at her, waiting for her to continue. "Gather all the specialty stuff we've built up," Machaela said, "and store it in the Duat. Store anything a basic magic kit wouldn't have: your _kopis_ , my shabti, everything. It'll be easy to get to, but they won't know we have it until we use it."

The same mischievous grin crossed his face. "Let's do it."

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and remember, reviews make the next one come faster! We authors live for feedback**


	12. Chapter 12

The next morning, they met Lina and Zia outside their rooms. Lina led them silently through a series of tunnels and rooms to a chamber with a roaring waterfall. In the pool stood a statue of Thoth. Two other initiates a bit younger than Machaela and Jesse were already there, along with three other adults.

"How'd you sleep?" Machaela whispered to Zia while they waited for things to start.

"Alright," she answered shortly. "The rooms are nice," she added.

"Ours are too," Machaela replied. "We're the second to last door in that hall. Feel free to come over if you get lonely.

Zia smiled slightly. "Thank you."

A lady with dark blonde hair came over and addressed Machaela and Jesse.

"My name is Liv," she said. "Are you Machaela and Jesse?" They nodded. "I'll be overseeing your test today."

They followed her to one of the cabinets along the chamber wall, where she took two ceramic cups.

"Water purified by contact with Thoth," she explained as she dipped the cups. Handing it to them, she offered them to the duo. "Drink. It will focus your mind."

The siblings each took a drink, and immediately had trouble holding still. Liv led the now hyperactive siblings away from the waterfall and back to the cabinet. Around the chamber, the other adults were corralling their own now quickly moving initiates.

"Now for the tattoos," Liv said, removing a fine-tipped paintbrush and a bowl of blue dye. "Stick out your tongue," she ordered. Jesse made a face, knowing what to expect, but stuck out his tongue. He crossed his eyes at the same time, making Machaela laugh and Liv smile.

As soon as Liv finished Machaela's tattoo, Machaela immediately understood why Jesse had spit into the fountain. She spit too. The tattoo tasted like the eggnog of Sofia's Machaela had tried last year: a combination of rubber, fire, and rubbing alcohol.

"The water should come _after_ the tattoo," Jesse said. "Get that horrible taste out."

"I see you already have a magic kit," Liv said, ignoring Jesse's comment. "Do you lack anything?"

Hiding a smile, they both opened their satchels. "We have a stylus, papyrus, ink, a lump of wax, a wand, and twine," Machaela listed. "Oh, and a staff." The staff was actually in the Duat, but Machaela didn't mention that.

"You have everything for now, then," Liv answered. "Follow me."

She led them back through the maze of tunnels toward the Hall of Ages building. Around back, opposite the Hall's entrance, was a normal sized set of unsealed doors.

Jesse's jaw dropped at the sight of the library. It was larger than he could describe with only one word, and he knew a lot of words. Circular rooms spiraled around and around the base column, getting ever larger and multiplying into more rooms. Machaela thought it looked like a giant beehive, and chuckled at the simile, since that would make them the bees. Clay shabtis popped in and out continuously, but Liv led them to a secluded wooden table, away from the couple of people they had seen.

"The Egyptian word _shesh_ means scribe or writer," Liv began, "but it can also mean magician because magic, at its most basic, turns words into reality. Using your own magic, send power into a word on the paper. When spoken, the words will unleash the magic."

"Language?" Machaela asked.

"Hieroglyphs are the best, but any language will work."

Machaela looked at Jesse. "You first."

"You just want to know how to top me," he challenged.

Machaela grinned smugly. "Of course."

Jesse stuck his tongue out at his sister, but turned to the scroll Liv had placed on the table. He drew the simplified glyph for his _kopis_ , complete with the mark he had carved into the pommel.

"Say it," Liv urged.

" _Kopis_." Jesse said. The glyph glowed and vanished. Jesse's sword lay on the scroll.

Liv looked shocked, but her jaw hit the floor when Jesse exclaimed, "Yup! It's mine. Here's the mark I put on it."

Machaela chuckled at the look on Liv's face, but said, "My turn," before Liv could question anything.

She drew a simple picture of an amulet she had found in her room: an ankh-djed-was symbol she thought stood for Ptah. Without her even saying the word, the glyph glowed and her amulet lay in its place. The look on Liv's face was priceless! Her mouth hung open, and utter disbelief showed on her face.

"How did you do that?" she finally asked.

Machaela looked at her with a sly smile. "It's easier to summon objects that we stored in the Duat rather than create new objects," she said innocently.

"Those are yours?" Liv asked.

"Yeah," Jesse answered. "I prefer a sword to a staff, though I have a staff too—"

"And I found this amulet in my room last night and claimed it as mine," Machaela finished.

She stared at them for several heartbeats, maybe debating on whether to ask another question. Finally, she found her words. "You are ready to duel."

She created a portal in the library wall that led to a deserted section of ruins. The siblings brushed the sand off their clothes.

"I still hate portals," Jesse grumbled.

Machaela chuckled. "At least you remembered to close your mouth," she teased.

Jesse made a face at her. "That was years ago."

His comment made Machaela's eyes widen. She glanced at Liv, but she wasn't paying attention, thankfully. That could have blown the prank. They didn't want Liv knowing about their training until _after_ the test.

"Oops," Jesse mouthed. Machaela pulled a face of her own at him, but hurriedly erased it when Liv turned around.

"Why are we in Thebes?" Jesse asked. He recognized the temple ruins around them from pictures he had seen in one of Iskandar's books.

"And where are all the people?" Machaela added.

Liv looked around in distaste, and they followed her gaze. The three of them stood on a circular elevated platform jutting from the desert surrounding them. Stone pillars stood on all sides, but the roof had long ago crumbled. Scattered around the flat area were many large boulders, probably all that remained of the roof, and further down one corridor, Jesse could see a few of the human-headed animal statues lining the original path out of the temple.

"This is an old temple to Horus built by Hatshepsut while she ruled Egypt as a man. Normally, yes, many people would be here, but I have encouraged them to stay away for a few hours. We are here because it is still full of magic, which will make it easier for you."

Machaela nodded, remembering Sofia mentioning at one point how easy common minds are to manipulate and feeling the difference in amount of magic between there and Turkey, where they had been a couple of months prior. It would be extremely easy to summon magic here, and they would probably be able to draw magic from their surroundings rather than themselves.

Liv summoned her staff and drew two circles in the sand about 25 feet apart, then positioned one sibling in each circle.

"We'll start simple," she said. "First magician to knock the other out of his or her circle wins. Use whatever you have available. Begin!"

The siblings looked at each other, deciding how far to go without using words. Finally, Jesse nodded and drew his staff. He studied it a moment, before focusing and tossing it out of the circle.

It landed as a snarling jackal, which slowly paced towards Machaela. Jesse usually preferred cats, but this was only the first round. He would be clumsier, more like a novice, with a dog.

Foaming at the mouth, the jackal broke into a run, charging at Machaela. Instincts kicked in. Raising her wand, she thought, _Shield!_ The jackal leaped forward, only to bounce off a shimmering boundary coming from her circle.

Its initial charge repelled, the jackal tried to back up for another go, but Machaela reached out and, calling her staff from the Duat, smacked the jackal on the head. The fierce dog yelped and turned back into a staff, and Machaela faced Jesse again, trying to figure out her own attack.

 _Use whatever you have available,_ she remembered. _But I don't_ want _to use everything, yet._ She looked around the courtyard, and her eyes landed on the boulders.

Pulling magic from the staff and the ruins, she cut a decent sized piece of rock off the closest rock behind Jesse and threw it at him.

He saw the movement of her staff, and her concentration, but nothing happened.

"What did you—oof!" He found himself face down on the ground with a decent rock on his back, half out of the circle. "Okay! You win! Get this thing off me!"

Machaela grinned as Liv flicked her staff, freeing Jesse. "Did you really expect to win that?" Machaela asked her brother. "You sent a _dog_ after me!" Jesse looked at her, confused. Then her reference clicked. He had forgotten her affinity for dogs. He was lucky she didn't destroy his staff.

Once Jesse had assured her that he was fine, Liv eyed the two siblings. "You were holding back," she announced. They didn't respond. "Because it was only the first round?" she asked when they didn't reply. The siblings stayed quiet. "Fine," Liv decided. "Last duel. All or nothing. Use anything you have. Goes to surrender or immobilization. No physical harm."

Liv quickly retreated to the other side of the courtyard and drew a circle of protection around herself as Machaela and Jesse eyed each other. The first two circles had been erased, and they could use the entire area to their advantage.

Jesse moved first, throwing his staff down, which turned into a serval. The small hunter rushed at Machaela, who dove behind a nearby pillar while throwing her amulet. With a flash, a wall appeared between her and the cat, then toppled when the serval hit it. Jesse's most recent staff was buried beneath a pile of rubble.

Machaela shot up from behind her boulder and threw her shabti, shouting, "Attack!"

Jesse quickly put aside his puzzlement at her throwing her shabti when the doughboy morphed into a crocodile. Drawing his sword, he fended off attacks for several minutes before remembering the command word to disable it.

" _Fah_!" he finally ordered, and the crocodile shrank to a wax figure.

He turned to attack his sister, but didn't have the chance.

" _Ha-di_!"

Jesse dove out from beneath a toppling pillar, which broke into several large chunks upon landing and lifted a cloud of dust into the air.

"Wind!" he yelled. A gust tore through the courtyard, carrying the cloud with it and showing Machaela forming a fort to shield herself. Jesse, not as good with spells, had to find a different route. He looked around the courtyard, his eyes landing on the debris, and he got an idea.

He started sending a mixture of spells. Some were real, intended to take down her fort and immobilize her, while other were fake, flimsy spells meant to distract, and she responded in kind. They started having fun with it, showing off with strategic attacks, and sending decoy attacks to disguise the real one following. Eventually, though, they tired of the duel and began trying to end it. They finally succeeded at ending the duel when they wrapped each other in twine at the same time.

"Draw?" Machaela called across the courtyard.

"Draw," Jesse agreed. "Will you untie me now?"

Machaela, wrapped like a mummy from shoulders down, peered around the debris she had sheltered behind, trying to find where Jesse had landed, then laughed.

"How in the world did you end up there?" she called between guffaws. Jesse sat atop one of the few remaining columns next to a series of progressively smaller boulders

He shrugged as much as he could wrapped in twine. "I was planning on ambushing your fort," he told her, "but you called the spell before I could. Then I had to respond to the spell before the rope wrapped around me."

She laughed, but Liv untied them before Machaela could respond. "That went much longer than I expected," Liv managed, staring at the damage to the temple.

Jesse shrugged, having climbed down from the column. "A destroyed area is nothing new" he replied.

"We're evenly matched," Machaela added, then turned to her brother. "Since when can you move rocks to create a path?"

"Seriously?" he replied. "What about your shabti turning into a crocodile!?"

She huffed. "Easy, when I programmed it the other day." Well, yesterday. It wouldn't do to announce that to Liv, though. Speaking of…

"Hey!" Liv cut into the budding argument. "How in the world do you know so much magic?" she demanded.

"How much did Iskandar tell you?" Jesse asked.

She stared at him, surprised at his familiarity with the name. "How…?"

"Answer and we'll explain," Machaela prodded.

Liv took a deep breath. "He came to me yesterday morning and said there were some new initiates, and that he wanted me to test the two of you. He implied you were new to magic, like the other girl, Zia."

Machaela chuckled. Typical prank by Iskandar. He must have known they would hide all they could until they needed it.

"We've been travelling with him for about two years, now," Jesse started, but looked to Machaela for her to finish. They had agreed long ago that she would usually speak for the both of them.

"Yeah, we're definitely not new to magic," Machaela added. "I am surprised Iskandar didn't warn you about testing us at a landmark, though."

She gazed around. What had been a semi-recognizable pile of ruins was now just a few columns surrounded by large rocks on a level floor. Both siblings had cannibalized their surroundings, and much of the stone structure had been used either in building Machaela's fort or Jesse's ambush point.

"The ruins are teeming with magic," Machaela continued. "So easy to use it for spells. Want to go another round?"

Jesse nodded, but Liv stepped between them. "All he did was ask if I knew the join spell," Liv answered, while making sure they didn't try any more spells. "Now I understand why. You are definitely ready to find your specialty. Do you have any other abilities I should know about?"

 _Ah, the magic phrase._ Machaela thought slyly. "Nope," she answered. _None you should know about right now_ , she finished in her head.

 **No one reviewed the last chapter. anyone still reading? writers live for reviews! :)**

 **In other news, there's a new one shot I posted last week that ties into this story. Go check out Small, Small World!**


	13. Chapter 13

After fixing the landmark, Liv called up another portal from the ruins, which dropped them back in the First Nome next to the river running through the middle of the city.

"Where are we going now?" Jesse asked, skipping along as he tried to keep up with Liv's fast pace.

"To test your specialty," Liv replied, noticing the siblings having to hurry and slowing her pace a bit. "Everybody has a specialty, and we have a way to test what each person is best at."

"What's your specialty?" Machaela asked.

"I am a water elementalist," Liv answered, "though every magician should be able to do a little of everything."

She led them into a large building, then to a small room in the back. Though small, the room was open. It had only a few cabinets against the far wall, probably for storing supplies.

"You both have unformed supplies in your satchels, correct?" Liv asked. The siblings nodded. "Okay. I'm going to throw three different attacks at you. Use whatever you want to block the attacks. By the end, I should know what specialty you are best at. Understand?" The siblings nodded again. "Machaela, you'll go first."

Jesse stepped to the edge of the room while Machaela positioned herself near the middle.

Liv started a simple spell, but one with some length, giving Machaela plenty of time to understand and react.

Machaela quickly realized it was a summoning spell. Given that Liv's specialty was water, Machaela guessed Liv was summoning a wave. She could use a Divine Word to stop the wave before it reached her, but that would go against what Iskandar told her, so she reached into her kit and pulled out the wax.

Liv was just under halfway through the spell.

Machaela hurried, forming the wax and whispering a spell into the shabti that would be released on contact. Just before Liv finished her spell, Machaela threw the wax. As it flew, she called the command word, and the shabti sprang to life.

A fully formed, though slightly misshapen, hippo knocked Liv off her feet as she finished her spell with a command word of her own: _Maw_. The wave of water Liv had summoned to knock Machaela down dumped on Liv instead. Machaela grinned. Her spell, _Miss,_ had worked. Liv looked at her, amazed and dripping wet. Liv really wanted to say something, but there were still two tests left. All she did was dry herself and start the next spell.

Machaela didn't wait as long this time, though. The second Liv raised her staff and said the first word, Machaela pulled her original shabti from the Duat and threw it. Knowing Liv's second language was German (Iskandar had mentioned it at one point) and Liv wouldn't understand her, Machaela called her command in Italian.

" _Occupa!_ " _Occupy!_

The shabti morphed into a humanoid and began hounding Liv: getting in her way and chasing her. Liv abandoned the spell before finishing the first line.

"Okay! Okay! That's enough!" Liv finally called out after having been chased around the room a couple times.

Chuckling, Machaela released the magic of the shabti, and it shrank back into a Doughboy, which Liv brought back to Machaela.

"Last one," Liv said. "It won't be water."

Machaela nodded and positioned herself, expecting some physical attack.

She was right, but Liv apparently hadn't been paying attention during the duel.

Liv threw down her staff, and it changed into a leopard that charged.

Machaela, despite the leopard's charging speed, simply raised an eyebrow. Liv just watched, waiting, as Machaela let the leopard get closer and closer. Just before Liv was going to call off the attack, for fear Machaela would get hurt, Machaela pointed a horizontal finger gun at the leopard.

" _Ha-di_ "

The glyph burned in the air a deep brown—something like fertile soil, but also glowing: a circle on a stick, an x, and a snake, all formed into a square. Then the glyph exploded. When the blast cleared, Liv's staff lay in pieces, scattered around Machaela's feet.

Liv gaped, her mouth hanging open. "You destroyed my staff!" she cried.

"So?" Machaela asked. "What did you expect? Most attacks like that end in a broken staff. Besides, they're easy to make. Jesse's on his third staff in two years."

" _Easy?_ " Liv asked. "Maybe for others, but it took me forever to make that."

Machaela huffed. "Jesse? Little help?"

Knowing what she was referring to, Jesse pulled a piece of wood and a piece of paper from the Duat. "Here," he said, handing Liv the materials. "Make yourself another staff."

Taking them from Jesse, Liv read the writing on the paper. "Is this a spell to form a new staff?" she finally asked.

Jesse nodded. "Iskandar got tired of me asking him to make me a staff, so he gave me a copy of the spell Machaela used when she made hers on accident."

"On accident?" Liv repeated. "How do you make a staff on accident?"

Machaela gave Jesse an annoyed look for bringing it up, then briefly described their first day in Sofia's care. "Jesse wanted one that day, too," she finished, "but Sofia was already irritated that I had made one. He didn't get a staff until we started using them in training, two months later."

Liv shook her head, but didn't reply.

Jesse was next. Machaela stepped off to the side to watch, and Liv went to the other end of the room with her new staff.

As she had with Machaela, Liv's first attack gave Jesse plenty of time to react, but this time she avoided water. She had gotten wet enough for today thank-you-very-much, and she didn't want Jesse to guess based on his sister's test. She started a long spell, but Jesse simply waited. He knew, logically, that she probably wouldn't go for water. She would probably go for something solid, more like a physical attack. He also knew that everything has a pattern.

She finished her spell, and a swarm of arrows flew at him. He almost laughed, since that was his test at the bridge, but he didn't have time for that.

Calling his sword, he immediately saw the pattern and followed it. The arrows came at him in waves; he dodged some and simply repelled others with his sword. In no time, the blunted arrows were bouncing off the wall behind him, and he had dodged or deflected them all.

Liv, though slightly surprised, said nothing, and simply started the next test.

She held out her hand, palm facing Jesse, and suddenly a tight stream of water surged out from her hand, shooting towards Jesse.

Jesse immediately analyzed the possibilities. She could be trying to pin him against the wall, preparing to wrap him in a cyclone, or aiming the water at something else to use to attack him.

The water came toward him. Option 3 is gone.

The water swerved to his left a hair. Option 1 is gone.

"Wind!" he called.

A gust of air wrapped around him, and it became a battle of wills. Liv tried to push the water in: surrounding him and soaking him would mean she won. Jesse used the wind to keep the water a distance away and allow him to breathe.

Liv pushed for one second. Two seconds. Three seconds. Jesse still had an air boundary around him.

Liv released her control on the water. "Good job," she told him. He nodded, slightly out of breath. "Do you need a break before the last test?" she asked.

He nodded again. "Just a couple minutes."

Machaela hurried over, pulling a snack out of the Duat. They wouldn't have lunch until the test was over, but magic had always made them hungry. She wanted to give him some advice, something she noticed, but, at Liv's warning look, she kept quiet.

After inhaling the snack, and getting a drink, Jesse stepped to the middle of the room for his final test.

While he had been eating, Liv, on the other side of the room, had been casting a couple spells. When Jesse motioned that he was ready, she said a command word, and a water shabti formed in front of her. It hesitated only a second, then attacked.

Machaela gasped, and almost jumped in, thinking something had gone wrong, but then she glanced at Liv. The shabti's motions mirrored Liv's, and Machaela realized this water warrior was something like a stand-in for Liv, and should ensure neither of them was injured in the duel.

The shabti wielded a _khopesh_ , a longer version of Jesse's _kopis_ , which Liv controlled by swinging her staff. Stepping into its swing, the sword flew towards Jesse's head, but he blocked at the last second. The shabti tried again, aiming for Jesse's feet. Jesse blocked again. Then, the shabti stepped back, out of range of Jesse's _kopis_ but still well within reach of the _khopesh_ , and tried to swing.

Jesse's face twisted in concentration, then his sword _grew_ , a shimmering blade of energy extending from the tip. With one swipe of his hologram sword, the energy blade dissolved the shabti's _khopesh_. The next swing went through the middle of the shabti, dissolving the water into steam.

The energy disappeared, and, of course, Liv's jaw had dropped again. "You—you summoned—" she stuttered. She swallowed, getting her tongue under control. "Did you know…?"

Machaela slowly walked out from her spot against the wall. "That was a combat avatar, right?" she asked. Liv nodded. "Sweet. How did you do it?" she asked her brother.

Jesse shrugged his shoulders. "I have no idea. Instinct?"

Liv didn't answer Jesse, instead asking them both, "Can you find your way back to your rooms?" They nodded. "Okay," she continued, "Go grab some lunch. Meet me in the Hall of Ages in one hour."

"Are you going to find Iskandar?" Jesse asked before she could turn away.

Liv hesitated. "Yes," she finally answered.

"Then you won't find him in the Hall of Ages," Machaela replied. "He promised to have lunch with us today back in our room." Machaela looked over at Jesse, gauging whether he agreed with her.

When they broke eye contact, he turned to Liv. "Why don't you join us for lunch? You probably want to tell him about our test, and that's what he'll be asking about as we eat."

"Are you sure?" Liv asked.

"Yeah," Machaela answered. "If you're gonna accuse us of something, I'd rather hear the accusation in front of Iskandar than risk you taking it to someone else—"

Jesse coughed something here that sounded suspiciously like, "Desjardins."

"—because you can't find Iskandar," Machaela finished, ignoring Jesse's interjection.

Liv had obviously heard Jesse's 'cough,' but chose not to comment. "If you're sure…" Jesse and Machaela both nodded. "Very well."

 **And here's the newest chapter. Hope everyone enjoyed it. Next will be finishing up their induction into the First Nome.**

 **Don't forget to review, and if you haven't found Small, Small World yet, go check it out :)**


	14. Chapter 14

The siblings led the way, showing Liv to their rooms. Partway down the hall containing their apartment, Liv recognized the hallway.

"You live in the same hall…" she trailed off as they stopped at the door. "You're neighbors with Iskandar?" she asked.

Jesse grinned. "Stay here a moment. We need to make sure Iskandar is okay with this."

Leaving Liv in the hall, the siblings stepped into the main room of their apartment, where Iskandar was waiting for them on the couch.

"Ah. You are back," he said when they walked in the door. "How did it go?"

Jesse shrugged as Machaela answered, "It was kinda fun, but Liv wants to talk to you. We invited her to lunch instead of risking her going to someone else when she couldn't find you. She's waiting in the hall. Do you mind if she eats with us?"

Iskandar raised an eyebrow at them, but agreed. "If you would rather talk about it while we eat, then that is fine."

"It's better than her going to Desjardins when she doesn't find you," Jess said as Machaela turned back to let Liv in.

Once everyone sat down, Iskandar opened the topic. "So, Liv, you wanted to ask me something?"

Liv looked uncomfortable, though Machaela wasn't sure whether it was the nature of the question or simply talking to the Chief Lector over lunch.

"Well, uh," she stuttered, then got her mouth under control. "Machaela and Jesse both showed a lot of skill this morning."

"They have had a lot of training," Iskandar noted. "I assume they told you about that?"

"Yes, they did," she replied, then decided to just get straight to the point. "But, well I guess what I'm worried about is whether they are godlings."

Turning to the siblings, Iskandar asked, "What happened?"

They briefly described the duel, then each of the tests, giving mainly an overview without any details. Liv would be able to fill in the details that had bothered her.

"Okay," he said when they finished. "Then where is the problem?"

"What struck me, sir, was in some of the details they left out," Liv answered. "In half the time it took me to form the wave spell, Machaela formed a shabti hippo complete with a miss command that activated on contact. She also used a Ptah amulet very well, considering she claimed to have only had the amulet since yesterday." Iskandar looked at Machaela curiously, but let Liv continue. "Then, Jesse not only dodged or deflected several waves of arrows, but also formed a combat avatar sword in the last test. They both claim no knowledge as to how they did it."

Both adults turned to the siblings, who up to this point had been simply listening as they ate.

"Where did you get the amulet?" Iskandar asked Machaela.

"In my room," she answered. "Exactly as I told Liv. It was behind the dresser, wedged in a crack."

Iskandar watched her a moment, looking for any of her signs that she was lying. Finally, he nodded, believing her. "And what about the shabti?"

She briefly explained how she had formed the shabti, complete with the _miss_ command activated on contact. "It was simple," she finished. "You taught us that spell several months ago."

He nodded. "That I did. And you have shown ability in forming shabtis, so incorporating a spell into one is not that large of a jump." He turned to Jesse. "Tell me about your tests."

Jesse shrugged. "The first one was almost exactly like my test to enter the First Nome: waves of arrows. Her arrows had a pattern too, and I just followed it. As for the avatar, I have no idea how I did that. The water warrior stepped out of my reach. I remember wishing my sword was longer, and suddenly my sword _was_ longer. I could only hold it for those couple seconds, though."

"But we've _never_ had anyone able to do an avatar in their specialty test," Liv asserted. "And everyone I know has spent months or years practicing to get even the small part of an avatar."

Iskandar didn't look convinced. "Sofia or I have been with them every day for the last two years," he told her.

"So you knew about this ability of theirs?" she asked before he could finish asking how they could have become godlings.

Iskandar was forced to admit he had not known. He also had not watched them practice in quite some time. That, added to him trying not to be biased, brought the argument to a stalemate.

Silence reigned as both adults stewed. Iskandar worried he might have missed something, and Liv tried to believe they couldn't be hosts, but she couldn't easily refute what she had seen. Either Machaela and Jesse were godlings, or they were much more naturally skilled than most magicians their age. Neither adult wanted the formal accusation process to begin, because a conviction resulted in execution.

Finally, Machaela, realizing Iskandar couldn't get them out of this, spoke up. "It is impossible for us to be godlings." Jesse snapped her head toward his sister, questions written all over his face. "I know, Jesse," she told him, "but it's either tell or this go too far."

"Tell what?" Liv said.

"First, promise not to pass judgment until we've fully explained," Machaela said.

Iskandar looked at them questioningly, not immediately recalling where she could be going with this.

"If you are going to say it's not possible because you are not Blood of the Pharaohs," Liv said, somewhat cynically, "that's not a valid argument."

"She is right," Iskandar added sadly, "We do not know for sure whether you are or not. We do not yet have access to the Blood of Pharaohs book."

"That's not what I'm going to say," Machaela responded coolly. "Remember, I'm not a complete newbie. Do you agree to not pass judgment until we're finished explaining? I'd rather not be executed on false terms."

Liv's eyes bugged as she thought of where this could be going, and Iskandar's face showed a bit of worry, but they both agreed.

"It is impossible for us to be godlings because, technically, we are already hosts," Machaela said calmly.

"What?!" Liv exploded. Iskandar now showed quite a bit more worry, and more than a little shock.

Machaela pulled her Bible out of the Duat and set it on the table. "We are Christians," she said, ignoring Liv's outburst, "saved by grace, through faith in Christ Jesus."

"How does that prevent you from being godlings?" Iskandar asked. "And I thought you stopped reading that when you found out about the House?"

Machaela gave him the closest equivalent to a dirty look she ever would. "Jesus is the Kind of kings and Lord of lords." Her voice was tense. "Just because there are stewards of earth does not mean there is no God. He is King of all. The gods of Egypt used to be keepers of earth under God, but they went rogue, turning their back on their creator and doing their own thing. I will not turn my back on my Master upon discovery of more servants, no matter how powerful those servants are."

Jesse nudged her, agreeing completely but not wanted her to start into a rant and get them both in trouble. She took a deep breath. "As for the other question, think of the body as the temple. A temple can only host one deity, can it not?" Iskandar and Liv both nodded. "We never find temples devoted to Horus _and_ Isis, only to Horus _or_ Isis. Our bodies are the same way. When one accepts Jesus' sacrifice and trusts in Him as Savior, the Holy Spirit takes residence in them. Paul, in Corinthians, reminds us of this when he writes 'don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have from God, and you do not own yourself?' We," she gestured to Jesse and herself, "accepted Christ about a year before we were separated from our family, and Jesus said in John's gospel that no one can take us from God. The Holy Spirit lives in us, making it absolutely impossible for us to be godlings. If any of the Egyptian gods had tried, they would have found our temple already full and impossible to enter."

Both Iskandar and Liv stared at her for a long moment.

"Well?" Jesse asked when he tired of the silence.

"I will buy it," Iskandar finally said. "Musa, or Moses, was a servant of Jehovah, and everyone knows him as the only foreigner to ever beat the House in a magic duel. The Christian God is supposed to be Jehovah."

Jesse nodded agreement. "He is. Judaism, which Moses followed, follows the Old Covenant of the prophets, while Christianity follows the New Covenant set in place by Jesus the Messiah."

Liv shrugged, not believing it, but willing to accept it since Iskandar had. "Okay."

"Now," Iskandar said, changing the subject. "Machaela, you used the _miss_ shabti on one test. What about the other two?"

"I didn't let her finish the attack spell on the second test. I told the shabti you helped me with to occupy her. For the last test, she sent a leopard at me. I used the second Divine Word you taught me."

"When did you program your shabti?" he asked. "I only helped you correct it yesterday."

She blushed. "Last night. You had gone back to your room, and Sofia wasn't in earshot, so I figured out how to program it." She shot a glance at Liv, and he seemed to understand how she had programmed it. He gave her a look, but turned to Jesse.

"And what was your other test?"

"She tried to wrap me in a water cyclone, but I kept a shield of wind around me," Jesse answered.

"Well done! I see you finally made progress on using the element of air," Iskandar praised, before turning to Liv. "What do you think their specialties are?" he asked.

Liv looked at him incredulously. "Shouldn't you be the one to announce that?"

He smiled gently. "You watched the entire duel. If we do not agree, I will tell you what I think, but it should be fairly obvious."

Liv chuckled slightly at that. "Yes, this was one of the easier tests to determine specialty. I believe Machaela's is statuary and Jesse's is combat magic."

"Yes, it seems so," Iskandar said, watching the siblings for their reactions. "As for teachers, what do you think about Benin for Jesse?"

"He is a good teacher," Liv nodded, "as well as a good swordsman. What about for Machaela, though? We do not have many skilled in statuary."

"You are correct," Iskandar answered, "but I do know of one who would love to teach her."

"Who?" Liv asked, trying to think of another magician in the First Nome that knew statuary.

Iskandar, however, kept his eyes on Machaela's hopeful face. "Myself."

"Don't you have enough on your plate?" Liv asked, not missing the excitement that lit Machaela's face.

Iskandar did have enough on his plate, and committing to teach her would require moving things around a little, but the excitement she showed made it worth it. "I can do it," he answered.

Machaela was ecstatic. She knew how skilled Iskandar was at statuary, and thought it would be wonderful to learn from him.

"Really?" she asked. "You'll be my teacher?" He nodded, and Machaela just about achieved liftoff, her excitement was so great. This should let her have more time with Iskandar, in addition to the couple of hours he gave them each evening!

"Who is my teacher, again?" Jesse asked. "Some Ben guy?"

"Ben-een," Liv pronounced slowly. "He is a magician originally from New York, and he specializes in combat magic."

"He is skilled in both the _khopesh_ and _kopis_ ," Iskandar picked up, "as well as a couple other Ancient Egyptian weapons. He will be a good, patient teacher for you. His previous students have all enjoyed learning from him."

"So what are we doing for the rest of today?" Machaela asked as they finished eating.

"I have meetings I must attend," Iskandar replied, "and I am sure Liv has other work to do, so I suppose you are free the rest of today. I will find Benin sometime this afternoon."

"You may be able to find the other girl, Zia, in her room now as well," Liv told them. "Rarely does anything else happen for the students on the day of the test."

Machaela and Jesse liked the thought of that, so after Liv had bidden goodbye and Iskandar had promised to see them that evening, the siblings hurried down the hall to Zia's door.

Lina answered their knock. "Oh!" she exclaimed, surprised. "Hello! How did your test go?"

"It went well enough," Machaela answered politely, but without detail. "Is Zia here? We thought we would finish exploring and wondered if she would come with us."

At her voice, Zia had peeked out of the back bedroom.

Lina, turning around to call, noticed her watching them. "Do you want to go?" she asked Zia.

Zia looked at them, a bit nervous but also wanting to escape the rooms again. She still wasn't very comfortable with Lina, which was understandable.

At Zia's shy nod, a smile split Machaela's face. The siblings so wanted another friend, but they didn't want Zia to feel obligated to come with them.

"How did your test go?" Machaela asked as they made their way out of the residence building.

Zia shrugged. "If I ever knew any magic," she answered, "I don't know it now. I was able to do a few spells on the scroll, but we didn't reach the dueling stage. How about you?"

"We've been studying with Iskandar before we came here," Jesse started cautiously. "We got to surprise Liv, the lady who tested us, because she didn't know about our training."

"We found our specialty," Machaela finished, "and we'll start studying under our respective teachers tomorrow."

"So you won't be in the regular lessons?" Zia asked.

Jesse shook his head. "We won't get to be in classes together," he told her somewhat sadly. "But we can still spend free time together, if you want."

Zia smiled, but didn't respond, and soon their attention turned to learning the layout of their new home.

 **hope you enjoyed this chapter. don't forget to review**

 **thanks to stormrunner74 for your faithful reviews**


	15. Chapter 15

Machaela struggled to hide the mischievous grin trying to split her face. _Must not laugh. Must not laugh. That will bring attention and we don't want that! Wait—yes, we do. Still must not laugh!_

She and her brother had been living in the First Nome for about a year now, and overall they liked it. Benin had proven himself a learned and patient teacher for Jesse, who had glowing stories to tell each day about studying combat magic. He could now hold his avatar for longer, and the avatar itself was slightly larger.

She spent several hours a day with Iskandar learning about shabtis—how to make and use them. As he had shown previously, Iskandar was a patient teacher, quite willing to review a spell or its concept several times to help her understand. While working with him, however, she had to stay focused the entire time, as he allowed no "dawdling," as he had termed it once, during lessons. That was reserved for later.

What annoyed her, though, was how often "later" never came.

At first, he had kept to the norm of spending time with them after dinner, but then he began cancelling. One night here, another there, they always understood when he had something else that interfered now and then. But it got more and more frequent.

Sofia had explained that Iskandar was busy with work, but that had never prevented him from spending time with them before. He had always eaten dinner with them each evening, and spent at least an hour after dinner, and the siblings saw no reason for that to change.

So Machaela tried to drop him a few hints, and invitations, during lessons, but he barely stayed, if he even showed up, each time claiming work or a meeting or one of the aides would lure him away. Eventually, they realized they would have to grow accustomed to work taking precedence.

Then Jesse saw him spending time with Zia in the evenings.

Do not misunderstand; they didn't mind at all that he spent time with Zia. Machaela and Jesse both had been trying to make friends with Zia and make her feel at home, though that was increasingly difficult with their different schedules. She had acclimated well to living in the First Nome, and was quickly turning into an excellent magician, but Zia was feeling a little lost now that she was staying in the dorm. No, the problem was that he had time to spend with Zia, but not with them.

Extremely loyal to those they called family, Machaela and Jesse renewed their attempts to get the one they thought of as a grandfather to remember them. Machaela dropped more hints during lessons. Jesse invited him to dinner several times. When Iskandar didn't attend that, they tried lunch, which failed as well.

Even Sofia tried, knowing how much it hurt the duo that Iskandar seemed to have forgotten them. She found out a lot about his hectic schedule, but was unable to break through his distraction to remind him that he had three kids relying on him and not just one.

That settled it. Machaela and Jesse had only one more thing to try: prank war, which is why Machaela was having so much trouble hiding her grin.

Over a week of planning had gone into Operation Notice Me, or Op-N, as they termed it in front of others. They planned which spells to use and when. They planned back-up plans, and back-ups for the back-up plans. To be able to talk without being understood, they even learned the one language Iskandar didn't understand, which wasn't even a real language: Pig Latin. Finally, they were ready.

" _Ogay_ ," Jesse muttered into the earpiece. _Go._

Hearing him through her own earpiece, both of which had been Christmas presents, Machaela pushed open the door adjoining their rooms. Jesse's job was to watch the outside door and warn her if anyone came.

She immediately encountered a problem: the door refused to open. She pushed harder, and it slowly gave. Upon pushing the opening wide enough to fit through, she was a bit miffed: a large trunk had been blocking the door—not fully, but enough to make opening the door difficult.

She wandered around the main room first, setting a few different spells that would only activate on a certain stimulus. Some things she made sure would not activate the first day: like the toaster for which he wouldn't have a need for two days, if he followed his routine. Other spells would activate that night: like the desk lamp that would flash a message in Morse code when he turned it on.

She then crept into the bedroom, watching for the booby trap she knew he kept in the doorway. Avoiding that, she rewired a couple electronics, setting a join spell on them so sometimes they would work and other times they wouldn't, short sheeted the bed, and rewired the light switches to differing lights.

When she had set all the pranks and spells they had planned, with a final touch of a bouquet of Forget-me-nots on the dresser, she placed a magical surveillance that would notify the receiver in her room that a prank had activated and a listening bug that recorded any sound so she could listen to his reaction.

As she finished placing the surveillance, Jesse started chiming in her ear that an aide was coming towards the door. She sprinted towards the adjoining door, making it through and replacing the trunk as best she could just before the aide knocked and entered.

"Did you finish?" Jesse asked when they were back in her room. With Sofia having just left, for now they could talk without eavesdroppers, or Pig Latin.

"Yeah," she answered, slightly breathless from the sprint. "Everything's in place and the surveillance is up."

Jesse grinned. "And now we wait."

It was a short wait. Iskandar came back to his rooms that evening shortly after the siblings finished dinner, and they hurried to Machaela's room to listen in.

They heard him moving around, setting materials down and getting comfortable, probably with his "work" sitting in his lap.

 _Click, click_. He turned his lamp on. A minute later, "What in the world?" The siblings chuckled. "Mitchel!" they heard him call.

The door opened. "Yes, sir?"

"Do you remember where Daniel put the spare lightbulbs?"

"In the spare room's closet, sir. Shall I get you one?"

"No, thank you. I can get it."

Mitchel closed the door and Iskandar could be heard standing, then steps fading as he walked to the other room.

He came back a minute later, muttering about lightbulbs that refused to work, and they listened as he changed the bulb.

He turned the light on again, and Machaela and Jesse nearly laughed aloud at the long string of euphemisms they heard as the light continued the blinking. Machaela had programmed it to stop only one way, and that wasn't to change the bulb.

The lamp scraped across the table as Iskandar brought it closer to inspect. "What is…?" He paused, then slipped into Greek. "Is that Morse Code?!"

They heard him muttering letters as the lamp flashed. "—m—b—e—r—m—e. Remember me?" Then back to Greek, "Who made my lamp—wait, it stopped." A pause, then he set the lamp back down on the table. His chair squeaked as he sat. "That was weird," he muttered, still in Greek. "Oh well," he decided, "at least it stopped." Rustling pages filled the sound feed and they knew he had started his work.

"Phase one: success," Jesse said. "When do you think he'll activate the next one?"

"Who knows?" Machaela shrugged. "That depends on what he decides to do."

Though Machaela and Jesse tried to listen for movement, Iskandar stayed in his work chair until it was time for them to head to bed, probably skipping his own dinner in the process.

Early the next morning, a day off for the siblings, Machaela woke to music coming from the bug tied to Iskandar's room. As annoyed as she was at being woken that early, she had to laugh. Iskandar had apparently decided to remove his notebook from the shelf, which she had set up to play rap (which he extremely and vehemently disliked) if the weight on that shelf changed. She was then treated to a long phrase explaining just how awake Iskandar was not and his annoyance at those "idiots attempting poetry."

It took him a few minutes, but he finally realized, in his half-awake state, that putting the notebook back on the shelf turned off the music. The last thing she heard before going back to sleep was his muttering about figuring out who had rigged his room.

When she woke up for real, several hours later, Jesse sat on the floor next to the bug, listening and trying to laugh quietly.

"What's up?" she asked sleepily.

He turned around and waved her over, still laughing. "He noticed the bouquet," Jesse whispered, "but the meaning hasn't clicked. He also activated his tablet. The tablet refused to work the first time he turned it on and displayed our rigged error message the second time but worked normally the third time." They both laughed quietly. He continued, "Then he went into the kitchen, springing that trap."

She had rigged the kitchen to, at random intervals over a set time frame, automatically create one of their favorite meals. "Which meal did it cook?" Machaela asked.

Jesse chuckled. "Judging by what he said, it made him a grilled cheese. Now he's moving around in the living room again."

A moment later, the prank surveillance next to the bug chimed, showing he had just opened a rigged door.

"What the—!" they heard Iskandar say as three cabinets and the room's other door all opened as well. "Who is the world is rigging my room?!" he asked, exasperated. He fiddled with the door a minute, but failed to notice the thin, almost-invisible wire connecting all the moving doors. Finally, he gave up and, maybe thinking there couldn't be any more pranks, went back to the living room.

Without warning, an air horn resounded through the speaker, making Machaela and Jesse jump then laugh hysterically. They had rigged the easy chair in the living room to blare the horn the first time he put his feet up. Both siblings desperately wished they had had a way to video the reactions, as they both pictured him jumping about a foot and calling his staff from the Duat instinctively. The flood of exasperated phrases the duo knew were the closest Iskandar ever got to swearing confirmed it, and they laughed until they cried.

With it being the weekend, and the siblings alone all day, they spend many hours in Machaela's room listening for the next prank, but Iskandar spent the entire day in a chair, though he did choose a different chair after the air horn.

He finally noticed the next prank midafternoon, when he tried to enter his room, ostensibly to get something.

Several interjectional phrases came through the room's speaker, but he had spoken in a language Machaela had not learned yet, so she and Jesse only understood the general idea that he was very surprised.

He had good reason to be, however. Machaela had left a time-delayed spell that activated in the middle of the day. Right now, all the furniture in his bedroom was stuck to the wall, as if gravity had moved. His footsteps came closer as he entered the room and studied the displaced furniture from the actual floor.

"Mitchel!" he yelled, making the siblings jump at the volume. He was standing extremely close to the hidden bug. Nobody came: Mitchel must not have heard, so he moved to the doorway and tried again. "Mitchel!"

The door opened, footsteps hurrying towards his voice. "What? Are you alright?...Oh."

"Yes, 'Oh,'" the siblings heard Iskandar reply, and assumed he had shown his main aide the topsy-turvy room. "Nobody has been in my rooms today. Did anyone mention an intruder in the last three days you might have neglected to tell me about?"

"No, sir," came the perplexed answer after a silent moment. "There is always someone watching your door, and only you and anyone you escorted have entered in the last week."

Iskandar hummed. "Very well. That is all."

A door closed as Iskandar performed a spell that identified a currently effective spell, then he started muttering as he reasoned through the results aloud. He, of course, easily figured out the spell's counter, returning the room to its rightful layout, but he apparently didn't immediately know who would have or could have done such a thing, which the siblings found funny but also a bit hurtful. It had been less than a year, and he had already spaced their pranking style.

The final prank of the day came later that evening. Just as Machaela and Jesse were getting ready to go to bed, the surveillance chimed that another trap had sprung, and Jesse hurried into the room to catch the reaction.

"Scooby dooby doo, where are you?" came from the speaker as the microwave played the entire jingle on a loop. They heard Iskandar pressing buttons, trying to shut the noise off, but the machine accepted no input until the timer ran out.

Machaela had the theme song stuck in her head most of the night, but the evidence that Iskandar did too made it totally worth it.

The second, and last, full day of pranks would be the most telling. Also a day off for the siblings, everything they had rigged to go off this day repeated or nearly repeated something they had previously done.

First came the toaster, singing a song from another of Jesse's favorite cartoons. Then, they listened as he discovered the kitchen cabinets all rigged to play Step in Time from Mary Poppins. He recognized that tune, as opposed to the toaster's cartoon, and actually laughed.

They made him jump and almost cuss when he opened the closet door to see the ocean. The glamour was believable enough that, when an ocean wave appeared to break right over the just-opened door, the siblings heard Iskandar jump.

Towards the afternoon, when there was only one more prank waiting to be found, someone knocked on Iskandar's door.

"Ah," he said. "Hello, Lina. Come on in." Judging by the sound volume, the two adults sat down at the kitchen table. "How is Zia doing?" Iskandar asked.

"I am not her tutor anymore," Lina reminded him, "but I do still check on her every week or so. She says she is fine, and she is definitely learning a lot. The matron said she will soon graduate the scrying bowls to learn basic spell-making."

"Wonderful!" he replied. "I spend a small amount of time with her some evenings, but we usually avoid talking about her lessons. Did the matron know whether she had regained any memory?"

"She has not," Lina answered. "I understand she is pushing herself to relearn Arabic in her free time, though."

"Probably hoping it will help her remember, or at least give her a link to her old village," Iskandar surmised.

"Yes, you are probably right. But how are you doing?" she asked. "I haven't been able to stop by in quite a while."

"I am fine, but some strange things have been happening the last couple days."

A rustling noise came through the speaker, as if Lina had leaned forward in the chair. "Like what?"

He briefly explained the various pranks over the last day and a half, including asking Mitchel if anyone had been in his rooms. "He said no one had, but that anti-gravity spell has a three-day maximum for a delayed effect," he finished.

Lina hummed in thought. "That is weird," she agreed. "I guess where I would start is with listing anyone who may have a reason to set the spells. It seems all of them so far have been harmless."

He agreed, and the topic turned to other things. Machaela and Jesse soon stopped listening.

The duo passed the afternoon playing board games and reviewing the material they had learned recently, preparing for their respective lessons the next day. The final prank sounded about dinnertime—a series of fire-cracker-type noises coming from a rarely used chair—but, while his reaction was entertaining to listen to, it was also rather disappointing. None of the pranks had jogged his memory or made him think of them.

Their last attempt a bust, they tried to bury the hurt and the feelings of abandonment, telling themselves they didn't care, just so it would hurt less. Eventually, they knew, it would hurt less, and in the meantime, they still had each other. In addition, Sofia was still with them some days, though that was more to ensure they were okay. Having proven their self-sufficiency long before, they were now left alone more often than not. Currently, Sofia was working on a project somewhere in Canada.

Renewing their promise to never leave each other, a very old, wise promise for their newly-minted ages of eleven and nine, they went to bed with heavy hearts.

 **beginning to wonder if anyone is reading this...one word reviews are acceptable, praise is enjoyed, constructive criticism welcomed. tell me what you think, please!**


	16. Chapter 16

CRASH!

Machaela jolted awake, immediately on the defensive. The noise had come from inside her room. Trying to find the source of the noise, she quickly noticed the shattered lamp on the floor. Fuzzy-brained from sleep, she looked for the cause. They were alone, and it was up to her to protect her brother.

It took a moment, but she finally figure it out: the entire room was shaking. In her bed, she could just barely feel it. Not completely awake yet, she thought maybe a large truck had gone by outside her door. That happened often in Norway. She tried to go back to sleep. Iskandar would teach her a spell to clean up the lamp in the morning.

But the shaking continued, and now it was growing. Events flooded back as she woke completely: First Nome, Egypt, the pranks, the night before. Remembering the previous night sent a stab of pain through her heart, but she pushed it aside as the shaking grew stronger.

A memory pushed its way loose: Rome. Basilica. Earthquake!

She jumped out of bed, determined to reach Jesse. He had woken up from nightmares after Rome's earthquake, and there was no way she would let him go through this one alone. The ground continued shaking, though not as bad as it had in Rome.

She ran for the door and tugged on it. She kept pulling, harder and harder, trying to get it open, but it was stuck. The building must have shifted, pinning the door in the frame. She was starting to hear Jesse next door, calling for her, but she was trapped in her room.

Her staff appeared in her hand. " _Sa-hei!_ " The glyph burned against the wall separating their rooms, collapsing it to a pile of rubble. She moved so quickly, she would later have no memory of climbing over the rubble to the neighboring room. Her sole focus was that neither of them would be alone for the earthquake, or, if it was short, she would have spent the entire event trying to reach her brother.

She found Jesse crouched under his bed, calling for her and trying to protect himself from the occasional bit of rubble that fell from the roof. Diving under there with him, they huddled together, riding out the shaking beneath the _protect_ spell she had cast.

The Chief Lector sat in his easy chair, a cup of coffee and the First Nome's morning paper in front of him. Reading a particularly annoying line about a problem he would have to fix, he glanced up to grab his coffee, then did a double take. His coffee had ripples.

Assuming he had simply bumped the table, as he was wont to do, he ignored it and went back to the paper. A few seconds later, though, he noticed his chair vibrating slightly.

A question flitted across his mind as the shaking gradually intensified. He heard a crash and looked over. A picture had fallen off the wall. _Earthquake,_ he thought. _Strange. Egypt has not had one in several decades._

He got up, intending to try to grab a more fragile piece off the shelf before it fell. Passing an old trunk in the middle of the room, he heard another crash, muffled this time. He glanced toward the sound and found himself standing before the door adjoining his room to the neighboring one. _Machaela and Jesse will be fine. Sofia is there._ He turned back toward the shelf, walking several steps before another thought struck him. _Wait, Sofia's in Canada! Machaela! Jesse!_

Moving as quickly as his old bones would allow, he moved the bothersome trunk out of the way and barged through the door. By now, the building was vibrating dangerously in response to the quake's relatively minor shaking. Something in the back of his mind chimed that it had hit resonance: if this lasted very long, the building would collapse.

"Machaela! Jesse!" he called, trying to find them in the shaking apartment. A loud crash sounded from their rooms, and, maneuvering around collapsing furniture, he quickly made his way to Machaela's door and pounded on it.

"Machaela!" he called. "Can you hear me? Are you alright?" No answer, except for the sound of the roof falling behind him. The shaking passed its peak, and began to slow, thankfully without the entire room collapsing, but there was still a lot of damage. He needed to find his kids. After failing to get Machaela's door open, he moved to Jesse's door and tried again.

Still no answer, and the door refused to open. So, as the shaking slowly stopped, he used a spell to break down the door.

Jesse's room was a mess. Clothes, games, and spell ingredients lay all around, making the room quite cluttered except for the paths Jesse had deliberately left open. Small bits of debris lay strewn throughout, disguising Jesse's paths and making the room rather difficult for Iskandar to navigate, considering the balance issues he had recently developed. To the left of the door was a pile of rubble, giving a clear view to Machaela's room. Through the sheen of dust in the air, he could see Machaela's bed covers haphazardly thrown back. She had obviously woken from the earthquake and wouldn't be in her room if there had been any way to get to Jesse's. His eyes landed again on the pile of rubble; there had been a way. He turned to look elsewhere. To his right, against the far wall, sat Jesse's bed, and Iskandar had to remind himself to breathe.

A large rock, surrounded by several pieces of the roof, rested where the bed was supposed to be.

Not even thinking to call out, he hurried toward the bed, cursing his stiff joints and painful back as they kept him from moving as quickly as he wanted. Coming around the side, he was about to start digging through the larger debris, hoping the rock had missed Jesse, when he suddenly noticed a glow.

He looked again. There was definitely a glow coming from beneath the bed. He knelt down stiffly, and breathed a sigh of relief. Huddled together beneath Jesse's bed, the siblings had ridden out the earthquake behind a protective barrier.

"Machaela," he said, keeping himself away from the glowing boundary. They didn't move. "Machaela," he tried again, a bit louder. The small body cautiously uncurled, and two small faces peeked out from under the bed. "You can come out now," he told them. "The earthquake is over."

The boundary flickered and died, and the two slowly crawled out. Standing up, they stared openmouthed at their surroundings. A large rock sat on Jesse's bed. Iskandar had come for them. The middle wall was gone. Iskandar had remembered them. The remaining walls tilted and threatened collapse. Iskandar had searched for them. A section of roof lay in the middle of the living room floor. Their end of the building had taken quite a hit, but Iskandar had remembered and come for _them_.

Iskandar brought them out of their staring. "Are you hurt?"

They studied themselves and each other before shaking their heads. Neither said anything as Iskandar helped them find clothes to change into, then led them into the main room and out into the hallway, each carrying the small bag of clothes and valuables they had grabbed in a hurry.

Messengers came through the halls, telling everyone whose rooms had been damaged where to go, and all through the moving around, still neither sibling said a word.

They settled into a new, temporary room where they would stay until someone repaired theirs. They watched Iskandar putter around as he settled in. They watched him find something to eat, and still they said nothing.

Iskandar eventually started watching them worriedly, wondering what they were thinking about. The Machaela and Jesse he knew were bubbly and talkative, especially with him. Granted, it had been a while since he had seen them outside of lessons for any length of time, what with work and his recent health troubles, but the siblings should be talking more. They remained quiet, though, and their expressions ranged from confused to hopeful to desolate to resigned. He had noticed Machaela look downright heartbroken a couple times before she quickly hid it. Jesse kept trying to keep his face emotionless, but it never worked for very long, showing his own sadness. His was not as deep as Machaela's, though, whatever its cause.

Staying next to each other, the duo spent the unexpected lessons-free day doing various things, but throughout it all, he noticed them stealing glances at him, questions written on their faces.

He attributed it to the earthquake that morning and hoped they would be better the next morning.

But they weren't. The next day, they continued the glances, the worried and confused looks, and the avoidance. He offered to play board games after lunch, which brightened them up a little bit, but not much. They stayed withdrawn for most of the game. Finally, he left them to a two-player game and went back to finish the work he had left over from the earthquake, but he kept an eye on them.

Eventually, they tired of the game, and went to the bedroom. They were quiet for several long minutes, then he heard voices, drawing his attention. They hadn't spoken but a few words since the earthquake. He listened, but was unable to understand them. Thinking maybe he was just mishearing parts of their words, he tried focusing more, comparing what he heard to every language he knew, but nothing matched. He activated the _Speak_ Divine Word, and still couldn't understand them. They spoke in no known language, but they obviously understood each other. They continued talking back and forth.

 **Well, this was supposed to be last week's chapter. Sorry I didn't realize FFN had messed up the formatting. It hadn't done that in so long I'd forgotten to check.**

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to review**  
 **Thanks to the two Guests who reviewed. I loved seeing those pop into my email. Panemat, some conflict is coming, but the bigger stuff won't be til they're a little older. As for the Greek, if you can't wait to know that answer, go read my story The Life of a Demigod. LoD is LoM's companion story.**


	17. Chapter 17

Machaela and Jesse had quickly tired of the game. Putting it away, they wandered back to the room they would be sharing for now, leaving Iskandar in the main room. Machaela looked around. With two twin mattresses, a small dresser they shared, and a dividing curtain, their room was small, but serviceable for now. She hoped, though, they wouldn't be here for long. How long could it take to magically repair a building? _If only I could just use a spell,_ she thought. _That would fix it immediately, though I might pass out for several hours._ She thought about it a minute, then shrugged. _At least I would be in my own bed, and away from…_

She glanced at her brother, who was peeking out the doorway toward where Iskandar was sitting. She knew he was wondering the same thing she was: what should they do about having to live with Iskandar for the next few days? They desperately wanted their "grandfather" back, but if they would get him back now only to lose him again as soon as the room was repaired, they didn't think it was worth it. That would just break their hearts more. For them, it was all or nothing; this back and forth hurt too much and just further damaged their trust in him. "Nothing" hurt a lot, but to regain hope and lose it again would be so much worse. They didn't know what to do. So far, they had avoided speaking more than the minimum in an attempt to conceal their thoughts, but now that they were alone…

" _Eyhay_ ," she said quietly. _Hey_.

He looked at her from his station at the door, and she waved him over.

" _Owhay oday ouyay antway otay andlehay isthay_?" she asked softly. _How do you want to handle this?_

He answered in the same language. "I have no idea. He's all but forgotten us. What if we get him back for a few days only to lose him again?"

"I know what you mean." She looked worried. Careful to keep her voice low, she continued, "He had a trunk blocking the door between our apartments when I went in there."

Jesse's jaw dropped, then his face fell. "Why would he put it there if he ever intended to spend time with us?"

"We haven't seen him in so long. How do we know he even intended to spend time with us? He probably thought of the open patch of wall as a convenient place to store stuff." Machaela's voice was bitter.

"He did come find us after the quake, though," Jesse pointed out, maybe trying to stay hopeful.

"He did," Machaela acknowledged. "But that may have only been because Sofia always tells him when she won't be here."

They sat there quietly a moment, trying to find a way to draw a conclusion. "Let's just watch for now," Machaela finally said, still in their code language, "and see what he does. Until we know for sure, let's always make sure he can't understand us."

Jesse nodded agreement, looking around the room. "This room is so bland," he said, no longer lowering his voice.

Machaela agreed. "They must only use this building in an emergency."

"Would you liven it up, Machaela?" Jesse asked. "There's not enough blue in here."

"Not enough blue?" she asked, laughing slightly. He shook his head, a small smile on his face. They both knew nothing short of everything blue was enough. Sky blue was, of course, Jesse's favorite color. The bright blue of the Colorado summer sky was one of the very few clear memories he had of their time with their parents and sister. "Oh, okay," Machaela said. "How about those flowers we left in his room?"

"Forget-me-nots?" Jesse remembered. "Yeah, those are cool."

Using a spell she had learned that called up decorations, she set a vase full of brightly blue Forget-me-nots on their dresser.

" _Erfectpay_ ," Jesse said. _Perfect._

"What are those?" a voice behind her asked.

The siblings spun around to find Iskandar in the doorway, probably investigating their broken silence.

"Myosotis," Jesse finally answered quietly, giving the flower's scientific name.

He looked at them curiously. "I have seen that flower before," he muttered, then asked, "Does it have a common name?"

The siblings exchanged looks, wondering where this was going, but Machaela slowly answered. "Its common name is Forget-me-not."

"Forget-me-not," Iskandar said slowly as he stared at the flower. Then memory dawned. "This is the flower I found in my room the other day." Machaela and Jesse glanced at each other again, and Iskandar noticed. The pieces clicked into place. "Did you put those there?" he asked the siblings.

They remained quiet for a moment, then Jesse looked at his sister. " _Agicmay_?" he said. _Magic_?

She nodded and, ignoring Iskandar's confused look at the code language, called out a command word. Beside her, the bed, covers and all, lifted off the ground, flipped, and stuck itself to the ceiling, as if that direction was now down.

Iskandar's mouth hung open. "You did everything?" he asked as the bed returned to normal.

The duo nodded. "It was Op-N," Jesse said.

"We were trying to get you to remember us," Machaela softly said at the same time, "but it didn't work."

"Op-N? Remember you?" Iskandar asked. "What do you mean?" He led them to the couch and sat next to them. The siblings, though, scooted away a little bit and turned to face him. Iskandar tried to tell himself they just wanted to face him as they talked, but it had almost seemed as if they didn't want to sit next to him.

"You forgot about us!" Jesse said. "You used to come over almost every day, but it's been months since we saw you outside of lessons."

"We tried everything," Machaela picked up, refusing to make eye contact by looking down at her lap. "Hints, invitations, even Sofia tried to help, but you never stayed more than a few minutes. The pranks were the last try: Operation Notice Me. When that didn't work, we figured we'd have to just move on."

"Is that why you have not spoken to me since the earthquake?" Iskandar asked, his heart ripping as he realized it was all true. He had let work and his failing health distract him from caring for them, excusing it by thinking that they had Sofia and did not need him.

They nodded. "We were trying to figure out why you came after the quake," Jesse said, now also looking down.

"And how long you'll stay this time," Machaela added, her steady voice belying the tears welling in her eyes.

"How long I will…?" Iskandar repeated, a bit of emotion beginning to show through on his face. "Oh, kids, I am so sorry." They stared at him, eyes full of questions. They had never seen him cry before, but now he looked close to it. "You are right," he continued. "I can see it now. I got sick, then I had so much work to catch up on, I figured you would be alright with Sofia. I did not realize you wanted me there too."

"Of course we want you," Jesse told him. Softly, he added, "Grandpa."

'Grandpa," Iskandar mouthed. He shook his head, hand on his forehead. "I cannot believe it took an earthquake to make me realize you felt abandoned," he told them. Quietly, he started telling them much of what had happened in the past several months, describing what he had been doing, but making no excuses for ignoring them: how one of the minor gods had escaped its prison and he had been called on to recapture it. How his health had failed at one point, leaving him in bed for a few days, and loads of work to catch up on when he recovered. How it had taken forever to catch up, and by then he had a bunch of other stuff to do. And how all of that had culminated in him working on something each night and letting his habit of staying with them fade, all the while assuming they would be fine because they had Sofia.

"But, we didn't have Sofia," Machaela told him. "Remember? She's been travelling a lot lately. We're home alone four or five nights a week."

He put his head in his hands. "Yes, I do remember that now. She made sure to tell me every time she was going to be gone, but you have shown to be self-sufficient. I never worried if I decided I had no time to come over one night, and I knew that if you did need help, you would be able to reach me."

"More like one night after another," Machaela muttered so quietly Iskandar almost missed it.

"We never needed any kind of help," Jesse said softly, looking shyly down into his lap, "but we did and do need a family."

"You're the closest thing to family we have," Machaela continued, her voice still steady despite the tears on her face. "It hurt a lot to think we were losing you."

"And by your own choice," Jesse added, trying and failing to hold back his own tears. "Mama, Daddy, and Paiten didn't choose to leave us."

"But I did," Iskandar said softly, eyes looking through the wall. He put his head down. "I cannot begin to say how sorry I am," he started, his voice cutting in and out. "You said you were trying to figure out why I came after the earthquake. I came because you are my kids and I was worried about you. When I saw that rock on your bed, Jesse, I thought I had lost you both, because I knew Machaela would have run to you as soon as the shaking started. Your loyalty to each other is incredible, especially for your age. Most siblings your age want nothing to do with each other."

He leaned forward slowly, waiting to see if they would let him hug them. They did. "I will not let work get in the way again," he promised, his arms wrapped around them in a tight hug.

Sofia tripped and stumbled her way down the hallway, searching room numbers. _A3. A3. A3_ , she repeated. _These are all B's!_ Leaving that wing, she all but sprinted toward the other wing.

The magnitude 6.1 earthquake striking Cairo, Egypt late last week had made international news. She had immediately tried to reach Machaela and Jesse, but something was wrong. The scrying bowl refused to reach them. The first day, she had presumed they were simply not watching it. The next check-in was the following day, after all. But they hadn't called that day either, so she resumed calling them. At first, it had simply produced no answer, but, a couple days later, the oil had turned black as night when she tried to call. When she tried again without waiting for the oil to clear, the oil had caught fire.

With the demon days having started at sunset, a few hours before the scrying failed, she began trying to find a plane, but then a major snowstorm had closed the airports. Frantically trying to contact _anyone_ in the First Nome, she waited out the storm. When the snow had cleared two days later, she finally boarded a plane to Cairo, landing outside the Nome's entrance nearly a week after the earthquake had shaken the city.

Sprinting through the airport, then down the tunnel, she kept noticing damage, and kept worrying about her kids. Having been in Canada longer than she originally anticipated, and unable to contact anyone in Egypt, she felt justified in sprinting to the residence halls, despite the many looks she gathered.

But it had been worse when she got there. The entire wing of the building was roped off, waiting for someone to come through and repair the rooms. She had no idea whether there had been injuries, or where she should look for Machaela and Jesse.

Thankfully, someone had been coming down the hallway right then with the right list in hand. She had barely paused to thank them after being given a room number that the residents of the second-to-last hall should be in, especially since they had first gone on a long qualifying spiel about how the rooms _should_ be done in a day or two instead of simply giving her the room number.

 _Ah!_ _Finally, the "A Wing."_ She hurried down the row of doors, noticing several guards, but thinking nothing of them. There was always a guard or two around the residence halls.

Reaching the end of the hall, she finally found A3, and started pounding on the door.

Inside, she heard happy chatter, making her relax a bit as she recognized the voices.

"I'll get it!"

"No, I'll get it!"

"Ha! Yeah, right! Race ya!"

Two pairs of feet pounded their way closer to the door, and the lock clicked. The door opened to reveal Machaela and Jesse teasing and pushing each other as they bickered over who had reached the door first. Finally, they noticed Sofia, who had just been standing there watching them.

"Sofia!" they yelled, tackling her in a hug.

"You're safe," she said as she hugged them, beyond relieved. "I was so worried when you didn't answer my scry!"

Machaela leaned out of the hug. "Your scry?" she asked. Then she remembered. "The quake happened the day before we were supposed to call you, and the spell on the bowl should have timed out a couple days later."

Sofia nodded as they took a step back. "When you never called, I tried the next morning." She told about how she kept trying as she hurried to finish up in Canada, but then when the oil caught fire, which would have been when the spell wasn't renewed, she dropped everything and tried to catch a plane, only for that to get delayed.

"Sorry, you were worried for us," Jesse told her. "But we're okay."

Machaela gave a half-hearted sarcastic snort. "We're better than okay!" she laughed, pulling Sofia into the apartment. About to ask what she meant, Sofia cut herself off when another voice announced itself.

"Well, are you going to stand there, or are you going to help me win this game?" Iskandar said sarcastically as he came into the entryway.

Sofia grinned and looked at the siblings, who also had big smiles on their faces.

 **And here's this week's chapter. Don't forget to review!**


	18. Chapter 18

"Hey! You little rat!"

Jesse cackled in laughter, running away from his irate sister.

The siblings were in Dallas, Texas, the Fifty-First Nome, to take lessons from the nome's leaders: JD and Anne Grissom. They hadn't much liked the idea when Iskandar had told them at Christmas, but when Iskandar said they would be going together, and that it would only be for a couple months, they didn't raise too much of a fuss. In the year since the prank war, Iskandar had kept his word, and never allowed work to interfere with being with them, but he had also gotten stricter with their lessons, using their age as reasoning, at least for now. This increased workload had led to Iskandar adding to their lessons, hence the trip to Texas.

"Get back here!" Machaela chased after him, angrily drying herself off.

Jesse raced through the museum serving as nome headquarters, dodging displays and making Machaela take the long way around, giving him more of a head start.

"Hi, Brenda!" Jesse said, darting around the nineteen-year-old sitting with her boyfriend. "Bye, Brenda!" he said just as quickly, hurrying out of the room as Machaela entered it.

"What happened to you?" Brenda asked.

"Door. Bucket of oil," Machaela said shortly, darting through the room just as fast as Jesse had. She saw Brenda shaking her head at them, but had no time to challenge it. She had to catch her brother.

Anne had been using much of their stay to teach them about healing magic, which they knew would come in handy at some point. They were glad they had come, but were even happier that they would be headed back to Egypt in two days. The Grissoms hosted too many parties with _way_ too many people, and the siblings had taken to avoiding the parties by playing games in another part of the museum.

This time, however, Jesse had apparently gotten bored while she was reviewing one of her spells, hence the prank. She had opened the bathroom door, responding to his call, only to have a bucket of olive oil dump on her. It smelled good, yes, but that didn't mean she wanted to smell _like_ it. Her _return_ spell had removed the oil, but she was still a walking olive tree.

He abandoned the crowded display areas, maybe hoping to outrun her, but she could still beat him in a race. She was gaining on him, planning various ways to get him back for that prank, when he darted into the museum's atrium, where the party was at full swing.

She chased him around the food table a couple of times, almost catching him when he stopped to snack, then he ran through the dancers and out the other side.

She darted through the dancers, only to halt. He had paused to search for her. Staying out of his sight, she crept up on him, then lunged, but he saw her at the last second and dodged. She smacked into one of the display cases, which toppled over with a loud crash.

Even the music stopped as everybody in the room looked over. They stood there sheepishly for a moment.

"Oops?" Machaela said, trying to look innocent. The crowd kept staring, and Anne started working her way towards them. Not wanting the lecture on running in the museum (again), Machaela used a quick _join_ spell to fix the display, and the siblings hurried back to the room they commandeered during parties.

"You smell good," Jesse told her once they were away from the party. She glared at him, but, being on the other end of the room, she couldn't smack him—yet.

"When I said I wished we had air fresheners last week," she growled, "I didn't want you to turn ME into an air freshener!"

He grinned impishly. "You were paying too much attention to that spell book of yours," he said lightly, "and the olive oil was handy."

"Why did you even _have_ olive oil?" she asked, still glowering at him. "It's not used for scrying, and even the scrying oil is kept under guard."

He shrugged. "That's for me to know."

Unable to think of response that wouldn't start a real argument, she didn't answer, settling for grumbling under her breath.

Finally, Jesse spoke up again, no longer joking around. "You're thirteen in less than a year now," he mentioned casually. She nodded. "What are we going to do if we're separated?" he asks, fighting to keep his voice steady.

She crossed the room to sit beside him. "Is that why you've been playing more pranks recently?" He nodded, scooting over to lean against her. "I don't know if he'll try that or not," she answered, "but he's kept that promise for over five years now. We have to believe he'll continue to keep that promise." She wrapped an arm around his smaller frame. "And if he does try to separate us, you better believe I'll put up one heck of a fight. I may not be able to remember our parents that well, but I _do_ know I am _never_ leaving you."

"Because family is eternal."

"Exactly." She gave his shoulders a squeeze. "But I doubt he would do that. Not after he saw what happened last year, when we thought we were losing him. He knows it would be much worse if we were to lose each other."

He nodded, more than willing now to believe that. Iskandar had returned to acting like the grandfather they'd had when they were travelling the nomes with him, and when they first began travelling with him was when he promised they would never be separated.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. You know what though?" He looked up at her. "Until then," she paused, readjusting a bit, "TAG! You're it!" She tapped him on the shoulder and took off running. He shouted and jumped up to follow her, only to sputter when several gallons of water dropped on him. She had tagged him with a water spell.

"Get back here!" He took off after her, dripping wet and slipping on the hardwood floor.

Her only response was a cackle, pleased as she was with her payback, and the chase was on.

* * *

"Happy birthday to Machaela! Happy birthday to you!"

Sofia put the cake down as she finished singing. "Make a wish!" she said with a smile. Machaela leaned forward, holding her locket out of the way as she blew out the candles. Iskandar insisted on cutting the cake, giving the birthday girl the piece with the most icing.

"Thank you for the language program," Machaela told Iskandar as they ate, then added a teasing, "Maybe now I won't bug you with as many questions about whatever language I'm currently studying."

Iskandar chuckled. "Come with whatever questions you have, but this way you can learn the ones I never got around to."

"Do you wish you had learned them?" Jesse asked as he licked frosting off his fork.

Iskandar thought a minute. "Yes, I do," he finally answered, "if only because it can get tedious to use the _speak_ spell over and over. I have learned many languages over the centuries, but there are always more to look into."

Machaela grinned, already studying her new book, which had come with a language-teaching computer program to run on her laptop. "This will keep me busy for a while," she promised, flipping through the pages.

"Thirteen years old," Sofia said after a minute, changing the subject. "How are you already a teenager?"

Machaela's grin grew, proud the have the new title, however superfluous it may be.

Iskandar smiled at her, glad to see her happy. "This is a big day for you," he told her. "You have finished your study here in the First Nome." Machaela's eyes got big, and she looked at Jesse, whose worry showed.

"Are you ready for your assignment?" Iskandar asked, not giving her time to protest.

The siblings gripped each other's hand as Machaela nodded.

Iskandar smiled slightly. "I have need of an assistant."

The worry disappeared. "What do you mean?" Machaela asked.

"I have too much on my plate with which to keep up," he told them, and they nodded, knowing all too well about his slow but steady health decline. "And," he continued, "I know you want to stay with Jesse, who should still have two years before his assignment. So, how would you like to work with Sofia on some of her assignments in other nomes, and eventually have your own assignments?"

She nodded slowly, but started to ask one more question.

He beat her to it, though. "For the first year, you would only have day assignments. You will be back every evening."

She nodded faster, glad they wouldn't be separated, but then Jesse spoke up.

"Wait, only the first year?" he asked. "What about the second?"

Iskandar's mischievous grin grew. "Well, I guess you would have to go with her the second year, would you not?"

A giant smile split Jesse's face. "Really?!"

"Really," Iskandar chuckled. "Machaela will do the shorter assignments for the first year, and, when you turn twelve, you will go with her. You both have enough training, and by then Machaela will be able to teach you what is required, since she will spend the next year learning from Sofia. Until then, you will continue to work on your combat magic with Benin."

"So what will I be doing?" Machaela asked eagerly.

"You will essentially be my apprentice," Sofia said. "When I travel, it's usually because the nome in question needs help capturing an escaped god or a spell backfired and they don't have enough fighters to kill off the demons. Less often, they have a disciplinary issue that a member of the First Nome must sit in on, which is what happened in Canada two years ago. That doesn't happen very often, though, and you wouldn't be alone for the first."

"You have a cool job!" Jesse told her.

"So will you," she shot back, "in a year."

An easy grin showed on the siblings' faces, both of them happy they had passed this hurdle, and would stay together.

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter. we're getting into a bit of a time skip as we get closer to the events of the books. don't forget to review!**

 **thanks to stormrunner74 for their review.**


	19. Chapter 19

"Are you alright?!" he yelled over the noise of traffic.

Banishing the last demon with a quick sword swipe, he ran over, but she waved him off.

"I'm _fine_ ," she stressed, seating herself on the curb with a bit of a sigh.

"Fine?" he shot back. "You're bleeding!"

She rolled her eyes. "It's called a cut, and it's no big deal." She stuck her hand in the Duat, pulling out a corked potion. He sat next to her as she started sipping the healing potion, watching traffic as her wounds healed.

"So what do you think?" she asked, gesturing to imply she meant both the job and their surroundings.

"Interesting, definitely interesting," he replied. "Is this what you did every day last year?"

She nodded. "Every day I was gone we were doing something like this. I even got to go alone for several towards the end of the year."

"What was that like?"

"It was hard," she admitted, "but fun. I only battled small groups alone, so it was never very challenging, but I started making a sort of game out of it. I would kill all but one or two, then lead those into traps I had built in the surroundings. I was never in any real danger, since I kept a reserve spell that would have banished the demons, but I also got to test my trap-making skills. It made the task less boring, and usually resulted in me finding a new variation of a trap."

He chuckled. "That does sound like fun. I caught myself analyzing the fighting-style patterns of these monsters a minute ago. Until you got hurt, anyway. Some of the demons fought with one style, but the rest fought in a completely different style."

She shrugged. "I never took the time to look at that."

He didn't answer, and they watched the bustling city. It was early spring in Times Square, and the hustle and bustle of the big city crowd still fascinated them, even if they had seen many such cities on their two-year travel. The large lights, the crowds of people, the tall buildings, all kept them looking around, and more than once one had to remind the other to watch for danger.

"How much of it was fighting those demons?" Jesse asked after a few minutes.

She started at his voice. "Of what?"

"The battles, the assignments, all that you did without me," he clarified.

She thought about that. "Just over half," she finally answered. "And each time was different. You noticed this time how each demon had a different head?" He nodded. "They're all different. Sofia said she has never seen the same thing twice."

Jesse shook his head. "That's just weird. What freak of nature created those? And what were those other creatures?"

She chuckled. "I have no idea," she answered his first question. "What other creatures?"

"Those short monsters," he said. "The ones that fought differently. They had short little claws and none of our spells worked on them. Only my sword could touch them."

"Huh." She thought about it, then shrugged. "I don't know. I just thought they were demons. I guess I didn't notice the differences in the heat of the battle."

He huffed, but didn't comment, resuming his scan of their surroundings. Deciding the potion should have worked by now, he started to stand. "How—" He cut himself off as a large truck honked, staring at someone in the crowd.

"What?" Machaela asked, having heard him start, but thinking the large truck had drowned out the rest of his sentence.

"I know her from somewhere," he mumbled, still staring into the crowd.

"Who?" Machaela looked around, but couldn't pick anyone familiar out of the crowd.

"That blonde lady," he replied. "Come on."

She followed him as they wound their way through the crowd in Times Square, trying to spot the person he was looking at.

"There," he said, pointing. "See her? She's standing in the bleachers, middle row, talking to the girl next to her and pointing at the Hershey store."

Machaela finally saw the person he was pointing at, and agreed. "She does look familiar. Let's get a better look."

They maneuvered their way closer to the stands, but the lady and her companion had already climbed down once the siblings got there. Using her height to her advantage, Machaela stepped up onto the bleachers and looked around. "I see her!"

They took off, trying to catch up to the one who looked so familiar. Comparing the lady's appearance to her memories, Machaela tried to figure out where she had seen the woman before. Had it been recently? She couldn't remember. It wasn't in Egypt, and she had travelled so much in the past year…

The lady turned down one of the side streets; the siblings followed. She looked into a store; Machaela tried to see her face. She crossed the street back towards the Square; Jesse nearly darted in front of a car trying to follow.

The siblings kept trying to get closer, but the crowds hindered them. They tried to go around to get in front of the lady, but the lady purposefully kept changing direction.

Jesse was watching her intently, trying to guess her next move so they could get closer. He heard Machaela say something, but was distracted when the lady's companion, a young girl, said something and pointed back towards them. Suddenly, the two were nearly sprinting back toward the edge of the Square.

"What did you say?" Jesse asked right as Machaela took off after them. Jesse had trouble keeping up.

"Mom!" Machaela yelled, having finally figured out the resemblance. At that, Jesse sprinted, suddenly keeping up easily.

"Mama?" he asked. She nodded, yelling again, but the lady was long gone.

"I know it was her," Machaela stopped, panting, and looked around, not realizing she was also fingering the locket she always wore. "She looked just like Mom. It _had_ to be her."

"That means the other girl was Paiten," Jesse said, still rather shocked they had seen their mom.

"But why did they run?" Machaela asked, maybe not expecting an answer as they searched the area.

"They were moving around a lot," Jesse pointed out. "They might not have even seen us. There _are_ a lot of people here."

Machaela still looked worried. "Yeah, I guess you're right. We _have_ to find them, though."

The siblings frantically searched the Square again, looking everywhere in the direction the other two had run. They even asked a couple patrolling officers if _they_ had seen the duo, though the siblings made sure to be careful their wording didn't imply they were lost minors. Neither sibling wanted Child Protective Services to get involved.

After nearly thirty minutes of searching, however, they were forced to admit defeat. Their mom and sister had vanished, and the siblings had lost their family for the second time.

* * *

"Whacha doing?" Jesse asked, walking into Machaela's room. She didn't answer. "Hey," he tried again, sitting next to her on the bed. "Machaela?"

She jerked out of her thoughts. "What?" she asked.

"I asked what you're doing."

"Oh," she looked down at the locket in her hands. "I was trying to figure out some way we could have caught them last year."

"Caught who?" he asked. "Oh, you mean in Times Square?"

She nodded. "We were so close."

Jesse was silent for a minute, remembering their job in New York City just over a year before. They had spotted their mom and sister in the middle of Times Square, but hadn't been able to reach them.

"There's nothing we could have done," he finally said.

Machaela opened her mouth, about to argue, but Jesse spoke before she could. " _No_. There's _nothing_ we could have done. Don't beat yourself up about this, Sis. We'll find them eventually."

She kept fiddling with the locket. "We should have gone back to the city the next day. Maybe…" she trailed off.

"Maybe what?" he asked. "Maybe we could have run into them again? Come on, Machaela, you know better than that. You and I both know how big New York City is." She didn't answer, knowing the truth in his words but wishing otherwise. "Hey," he finally said, "think of it like this. We _saw_ them. We _saw_ Mom and Paiten in the _middle of Times Square_ nearly eight years after we were separated. Over three hundred and sixty _thousand_ people pass through there every day, and we happen to see the _two_ that we know? That's no coincidence. When God wants us back together, we'll find them again. I'm just glad you recognized them."

She gave him a small smile. "Thanks, little brother. When did you get so grown up?"

He shrugged, coloring a bit. "What brought this on, anyway?"

She stared at him a minute. "The date," she finally said, as if he should know this.

"The date?" he repeated, confused. He looked around the room, searching for a calendar. He quickly spotted one on the table. Running his finger down the columns, he finally said, "Today's June 17th."

She slowly nodded, waiting for him to remember, and rather surprised he had forgotten.

"June 17th. June 17th," he repeated a few times, knowing he should recognize this date. Then it clicked. "Paiten's birthday," he breathed. Machaela nodded again, and Jesse took his place next to her.

"I'd nearly forgotten," he admitted.

"You were pretty young," she replied. "How much _do_ you remember?"

"Not a whole lot. If we hadn't seen Mom last year, I just remembered she had short blonde hair. I'm not sure what told me she looked familiar then, but I wouldn't have been able to recognize her as Mom," he paused a second. "I can never quite remember whether Dad's hair was red or dark brown. I think he had dark eyes?"

"What about Paiten?"

Jesse shrugged. "She had blonde hair and blue eyes like me, but that's all I knew before last year. Do you remember more?"

She took off her locket, opened it, and handed it to him. "Those pictures were taken the Christmas before the wreck." Jesse stared. He had completely forgotten about his sister's locket, and he drank in the outdated pictures as she continued. "Dad was in the military; I don't know which branch. He worked long hours and got home after dinner, but then he would stay with us until bed. Mom worked too, but not as much. You weren't in school yet, so you went to daycare while Paiten and I were in school. After school, though, that was the best." Jesse looked up at this, amazed Machaela remembered so much. "After school, Mom would homeschool us."

"She homeschooled us?" Jesse repeated.

Machaela nodded. "You were five, but I remember Sofia testing us for a basic curriculum. She was amazed that you hadn't yet started school, but you could read at a third or fourth grade level, do basic arithmetic, and spout off general history. Mom taught us for several hours every evening in reading, math, history, and science, plus in any subject we asked about. If we asked about a general topic, part of the next day's work would include that topic. I only later understood how much work she would have had to put into that each night after we were in bed."

"She did that every evening?"

"Every evening," Machaela confirmed. "Once all of us were home, Paiten and me from school, and you from daycare, Mom got us a snack, then she started teaching." She closed her eyes, clarifying the memory. "At that point, my school was just doing numbers and basic reading," she remembered, "and I was really bored." She opened her eyes. "But Mom would do any lesson we wanted, and she could make anything sound interesting."

"What about Dad?" Jesse asked, wishing he could remember all this. "Did he do any of that?"

She thought a minute before her eyes brightened. "Yeah! I'd almost forgotten, but after he got home from work, he would take over while Mom went to do different stuff, except once we reached a stopping point, he would stop the book lessons."

"And do what?" Jesse prompted when Machaela took a breath. They had never talked about this. He was drinking all this information in, and the memory was bringing tears to Machaela's eyes. It had been too long since she had stopped to remember everything she could.

"He would take us to the garage and start working on something out there with us," she answered.

"Like what? Anything in particular?"

She had to think. "I don't remember for sure, but I think we made a birdhouse. We made several different things, but I don't remember them all now."

"I wish I could remember that," Jesse said.

"You remember some things, don't you?"

"Only basic stuff," he answered, "like names and that mom was friends with the neighbor across the street. The actual memories are glimpses: a hug at dinner, a smile, a burst of laughter." He reached into his pocket, pulling out a purple Rockies pen. "I still carry this around, and I still have my hat, though the first one no longer fits." Machaela smiled, remembering him buying a new hat whenever he outgrew the old one. "I remember that we went to a lot of games," he continued, "and I still love watching the games, but I don't remember actually _going_ to them."

"You cheered the loudest of us all," Machaela told him. "You and Paiten were into the games more than I was, but I still liked going. We always sat as close to the field as we could on the third base line, and you always cheered for the same person." Her gaze lost focus. "Now, what was his name?" She trailed off, trying to remember. "He was a great hitter. Always made a hit, and often a home run. What was his last name? Hit? Hels? Hilt? Oh, what was it?" She leaned back, determined to remember this name. "I think it was two syllables, and I know it started with an H. Hils? No. Helts? No. Helt—" She fell silent, mouthing through the word to bring it back. Jesse stayed quiet. "Helton!" she exclaimed, making him jump. "Todd Helton. You and Paiten would scream yourselves hoarse for Todd Helton."

She closed her eyes as the memory bloomed.

 _Paiten, Jesse, Mom, and Dad sat around her on the bleachers. They were at Coors Field in Denver, sitting on the second tier near the front, and the Rockies were beating the Braves 3-0 in the bottom of the third inning. "And up next for your Colorado Rockies," the announcer boomed, "is number seventeen: Todd Helton!"_

 _All around her, the fans cheered, and her little brother and sister screamed at the top of their lungs. He was the home run hitter._

 _"Hel-ton! Hel-ton!" the crowd cheered, keeping beat with a soundtrack played over the speakers even after the first ball and strike. The pitcher wound up for another throw, and the cheering only intensified at the crack of the bat and the splash of the home run ball landing in the fountain next to the bullpen._

She opened her eyes to find tears gathered yet again, nostalgic at the memory of her family in one spot having fun. She opened her mouth to describe the memory to Jesse, but right then the door opened.

"You two are entirely too quiet," Sofia said as she entered. "What are you—oh." She noticed Machaela trying to wipe away tears, and Jesse trying to clear his expression. "What's wrong?" Sofia asked.

"Nothing." Machaela gave a somewhat watery grin.

"It's our sister's birthday," Jesse supplied when Sofia looked about to ask again. "We were trying to remember everything we could about our family."

"And the memories bring tears, for some reason," Machaela finished. "I guess it's been a while since I just sat back and remembered."

"I see," Sofia said. "You want me to come back later?"

"Nah, it's okay," Jesse answered. "We've probably had enough tears for now. What's up?"

"I thought we might play a game," Sofia answered. "It's not very often anymore that we're both in Egypt on the same night, and I know I've missed beating you two at board games," she finished with a grin.

"Beating us, huh?" Machaela answered, having banished the tears the memory brought.

"I seem to remember a different outcome," Jesse added as he hopped down off the bed.

"Is that a challenge?" Sofia shot back with a teasing lilt.

"You're on," Machaela declared.

They traded humorous trash talk, grinning all the while, as they walked into the living room. Jesse barely noticed Machaela stop participating, and only just heard her say she was going to get Iskandar, so engrossed was he in his and Sofia's banter.

They traded several laughing insults as they set up a game, only stopping at a cry from next door.

"Iskandar? Iskandar, what's wrong? ISKANDAR! Jesse! Sofia! Help!"

 **How's that for a cliffy? *evil grin***

 **Let me know what you thought. more reviews=faster update :D**


	20. Chapter 20

Their laughing banter dispelling the rest of her tears, Machaela broke off her next teasing comment in favor of going to get Iskandar. She laughed a bit that Jesse barely noticed her leave. It had been a while since they and Sofia had had free time at the same time, and she was glad Sofia remembered their teasing game.

Pushing open the adjoining door, she called out, "Iskandar! Where are you? We're setting up a game. Iskandar?"

Not hearing a reply, she left the door open behind her and started looking. He wasn't in the living room, which was where she had expected him to be. His bedroom door was standing open, and he wasn't there. She checked his office, empty, and the spare room, empty. Going to check the kitchen, she suddenly heard a strange noise, almost like sandpaper mixed with a whistle.

"Iskandar?" She stepped into the kitchen to find Iskandar leaning on the counter, the strange sound coming whenever he breathed. "Iskandar?" she tried again, louder. No answer. "Iskandar, what's wrong?" she asked.

He still didn't answer, and she noticed his grip on the counter faltering. She moved closer, wanting to help, but, before she could do anything else, his grip failed.

She lunged. "ISKANDAR!" She threw herself under him, making sure he didn't hit the ground. She grunted as he landed on her, then yelled. "Jesse! Sofia! HELP!"

She wiggled out from under him and laid him on his back. His eyes were closed, and his breaths came slowly and shallowly, loud with wheezing. Struggling to remember first aid through her panic, she tried to find a pulse. It was strong. She was trying to remember what she needed to do next when Sofia rushed in.

"What happened?" Sofia asked. Machaela quickly relayed all she had seen, and Sofia took over.

The next several minutes were a blur of medics, hurry, spells, and prayers. Sofia sent Jesse to alert Mitchel, who was standing guard in the hall. Mitchel sent another aide running for the healers, while he came in to do what he could. Machaela and Jesse simply tried to stay out of the way of the flurry of activity as the healers rushed in, examined him, and hurried him off to the infirmary.

Machaela and Jesse hurried after the medics, and Sofia followed them after sending yet another guard to get Zia from the dorms.

The siblings were told, once again, to stay out of the way at the infirmary, and the healers hurried around Iskandar's bed tying lines, casting spells, and trying to figure out what was going on. Machaela hugged Jesse close to her, even though he was getting too big for that, and watched with a frightened gaze as someone she loved lay on a hospital bed.

What was going on? Nobody had any answers.

* * *

Forty-five minutes after everything had started, the blur was over, and Machaela and Jesse were sitting next to a bed in a more private section of the infirmary. Iskandar was sleeping, breathing peacefully.

The door flew open, breaking their most recent attempt at hoping this was all a dream.

Zia hurried into the room. "What happened?" she asked, barely remembering to lower her voice.

The siblings gave her a small smile, and Machaela patted the seat next to her.

Despite several attempts to become friends with Zia over the years, Machaela and Jesse had found her too reserved to really enjoy spending time with them. They were friends, and spent time with each other on occasion, but differences in their schedules ensured their paths rarely crossed. Zia had opted to stay in the First Nome, while the siblings still travelled throughout the nomes as needed. Zia's decision hadn't come as a surprise, especially after Iskandar hadn't assigned her to the Eighteenth Nome, against Vladmir's, nor to the Fourteenth, against Desjardins', requests. Zia found them both just as creepy (and crazy) as the siblings did. Instead, she worked to improve her skill as a fire elementalist and did odd jobs around the nome as needed. They did have one major thing in common, though: they thought of Iskandar as family.

"They compared it to an asthma attack," Jesse said after explaining how Iskandar had been found, "but not as a result of asthma."

"What then?" Zia stared at Iskandar. She hadn't noticed how frail he had gotten.

Jesse tried to answer, but was unable to get the words out. He swallowed, trying to speak. Seeing this, Machaela put her hand on his and said what they had been trying to comprehend for nearly an hour.

"His lungs tried to shut down," she said. She gulped, holding back the threatening tears. "They've given him a year, maybe two, before the spell that extended his life fails."

"He's dying." Zia understood with horrifying clarity. The man who had become her surrogate father was going to leave her.

Machaela and Jesse nodded, the lump in their throats too large to speak, and the three of them settled in for the long vigil, waiting for their family member to wake up.

* * *

A small noise tugged at her. Machaela rolled over, wanting to escape back into dreams. She didn't want to get up yet. That would mean facing reality. But there it was again: that small noise. Wishing she could go back to sleep, she opened her eyes.

She, Jesse, and Zia had spent the night around the bed, and they were the only constant watchers. Sofia had been in and out all night, checking on all four of them, herself unable to sleep. Mitchel had poked his head in a few times, both to check on Iskandar and to see if he was needed. Various other aides came in and out, whether looking for Iskandar, checking on Iskandar, or looking for a medic, Machaela wasn't sure. Iskandar had continued to sleep.

Last night had terrified Machaela. Iskandar was the strong one. He had helped them through illnesses over the years, everything from an annoying cold to a scary bout of flu that swept the nome, but he himself had never been ill, though his overall health fluctuated over the years. So to walk in and see him collapse—Machaela shivered, trying to banish the memory.

 _Rustle, rustle. Rustle, rustle._ She sat up and looked around, searching for the source of the noise that had woken her. _Rustle, rustle._ Her eyes finally landed on the bed, where Iskandar was coming around.

She stilled, watching him. Slowly, he opened his eyes, and Machaela immediately wrapped him in a careful hug.

"Woah, what's this?" he asked, looking around as he returned the hug.

She leaned back, wiping at the tears in her eyes. "You scared me!" she told him. His expression remained blank. "Do you remember what happened?"

He slowly shook his head. "I was making something in the kitchen to get rid of a cough."

"I found you in the kitchen," Machaela told him, "wheezing like a freight train. Then you collapsed to the floor." The fifteen-year-old covered her mouth, trying to hold back the tears of fear and worry the memory brought. "And you were so still…"

"We've been here all night," Jesse said as he came closer, he and Zia having woken at their voices, "waiting for you to wake up."

The door opened, and Iskandar's primary healer walked in.

"It's good to see you awake," he said.

"What happened, Will?" Iskandar rasped.

"You gave everyone quite a scare," Will replied. He explained in more detail how Machaela had found him, and what the healers had diagnosed, finishing with, "You can't live alone anymore."

Iskandar opened his mouth to protest, but Machaela spoke up first. "Uh-uh. No. Chief Lector or not, you will _not_ do this to me again." She fixed her gaze on him. "You have _no_ idea how scared I was last night." She swallowed, shoving down the rush of emotions the memory brought.

Seeing her trouble, Jesse spoke up. "How about we remove the wall between our living rooms?" he asked Will. "He won't be alone most of the time, but he'll still be at home."

Will looked at the Chief Lector. "As your doctor," he said, "your options are take it or leave it."

Iskandar raised an eyebrow, and all present knew the unspoken question. _What about as one below me in the chain of command?_

Seeing where this was going, Zia spoke up. "I know that look. Please don't make this repeat."

Iskandar looked about to decline the suggestion to open up the rooms, but then he looked back at Machaela, who was still struggling to get rid of the memory of finding him.

"Oh, all right. I suppose it's that or someone knocking at my door at all hours."

 **And there's chapter 20! Don't forget to review.**

 **We're getting closer now to where the books begin. should be only 1-2 chapters away.**

 **Thanks to Guest for their review of last chapter**


	21. Chapter 21

_A museum's exploding artifact. An attack on a mansion. Two people running from longnecks. Snippets of conversation. The Hall of Ages. "…question long-held beliefs…" Zia, looking confused. "Tell me your story." Two kids who looked remarkably familiar. "You were almost dead." A large, red pyramid in a sprawling desert. A whisper: "Things are changing." A face, leering down with cruel, angular features and glowing red eyes._

 _Then Iskandar, looking sad but relieved, saying, "And it seems I, too, can rest at last."_

She woke to someone shaking her. "Machaela!" a voice said. "Machaela, wake up! We need to move!"

She bolted upright, the scattered dreams running through her mind, but then Jesse spoke again, focusing her attention on him.

"Sofia just scried," he told her. "Iskandar wants us back in Egypt ASAP."

She had been up late the night before, and greatly wanted to go back to sleep, but something may be wrong. She climbed out of bed and started gathering her things, all the while trying to wake up.

In the year and a half since Iskandar had scared them so badly, he hadn't had another episode quite that bad, though he had had some health trouble. It had taken nearly a month for them to leave his side after that, so worried were they that something would happen while they were gone. Eventually, though, Sofia had convinced them to do their job, and promised that someone would call them should something happen. With his health still declining rapidly, Machaela and Jesse still refused to leave for more than a few days at a time.

Currently, they were in Sydney, Australia, the Three Hundred and Thirtieth Nome. The nome's leader, Steve, had called for help when an initiate's spell backfired a few days prior. The backfiring spell had released a couple dozen demons, which greatly outnumbered and out-skilled the four magicians and five initiates in his nome, so, despite not being very happy about travelling on Christmas, Machaela and Jesse had come to help track them down.

They were supposed to stay in the nome for twenty-four hours after the last demon had been killed, which would be that evening, but, with the Demon Days starting at sunset, they had been planning to leave slightly early.

"Sofia said forget about that," Jesse said when she mentioned it. "Iskandar wants us there now!"

The last part of her dream came back to her, and she saw with horrifying clarity what may be happening.

She pulled Jesse away from his packing and said a command word. All of their stuff piled into a suitcase, which she then put in the Duat.

Jesse's jaw had dropped at her using a Divine Word, but she snapped him out of it.

"I had a dream. Explain later. Come on!" Leaving a quick note for Steve, who was still sleeping at this early hour, the siblings sprinted to the roof, where Machaela opened a portal.

Ten minutes after waking up, Machaela and Jesse were sprinting through the deserted streets of the First Nome. With so few people out and about this time of night, Machaela didn't worry about being overheard as she told Jesse her dream. That last line had them hoping they were wrong.

As they ran towards their rooms, they passed Zia leaving her shrine to her parents. They waved at her, but didn't slow, which was just as well. Zia looked a bit distracted anyway.

Sofia stood from the couch as they barged it.

"What's going on?" Jesse asked. She shrugged, pointing toward the bedroom Iskandar had been using.

Machaela knocked, Jesse standing right behind her. "Iskandar?" she said.

Entering at his permission, she found him sitting on his bed, apparently reading a book. He was calm, which calmed the siblings down quite a bit.

"What's going on?" Machaela asked.

"You called for us?" Jesse said at the same time.

He patted the bed in front of him, and they sat, waiting for him to start.

"I need to give you some things," he said. His voice was raspy, and a lot quieter than it had been when they left for Australia, barely a week ago. His breathing was louder.

Magic rippled, and a faded, folded piece of paper appeared in his hand. "A friend gave this to me for safe-keeping several years ago." He handed it to them. "She asked for me to give it to you when you were ready, but I forgot about it until a few days ago." Taking the piece of paper from him, they looked at the familiar handwriting on the front, but they didn't open it, too focused on what was going on with Iskandar. He smiled at their hesitation. "I will be fine," he said. "Don't you worry."

"But what's going on?" Machaela asked. "I had this dream…"

He looked at her, more focused than she had seen him since they walked in. "What did you see?"

She described her fragmented dreams. When she finished, he looked thoughtful. "What you saw was true, and things _are_ changing. Carter and Sadie Kane have their path to follow."

"Kane," Jesse muttered. "Do we know them?"

His chuckle turned into a wracking cough, which had them scurrying, trying to help, but he waved them off. "I doubt it," he answered when it passed. "You may have heard of their parents, though. An accident claimed Ruby Kane's life right about the time we got back to Egypt."

His gaze lost focus, remembering all that had happened. Though the siblings were used to this by now, and usually just waited it out, they tapped his leg.

He jumped, then focused on them and smiled slightly. "Pardon me. Anyway, keep track of the Kanes. They are on a noble path, and will need help."

Machaela and Jesse looked at each other. Iskandar apparently hadn't realize he had spoken in Greek. Now they had to decide whether to tell him they knew Greek. Machaela finally nodded, and Jesse nodded back. They had kept it hidden for nine years. He may as well know, now.

"What path?" Machaela asked, responding in Greek.

He nearly answered before the language clicked. He raised an eyebrow. "I spoke in Greek, didn't I?" he asked in English. They nodded, smiling slightly. "When did you learn Greek?"

Machaela chuckled slightly at the look on his face. In all the years they had lived and travelled with him, they had only ever managed to hide one thing: their Greek fluency.

Jesse shrugged. "We found out we were fluent after the Rome earthquake."

"Found out you were fluent?" he repeated. "You never learned it?" They shook their heads. "And you kept it a secret this whole time?" The siblings chuckled, glad that they had successfully hidden this.

Iskandar muttered a phrase that Machaela recognized as an Arabic expression of frustration. "What have I done?" he muttered.

Now it was their turn to look at _him_ funny. "We know Greek," Jesse said. "So what?"

Iskandar shook his head. "I cannot say." Machaela opened her mouth to protest, but Iskandar spoke first. "Back to the original topic, the Kanes will need help, and you are two of the few able."

The siblings exchanged a glance. "Few able?" Machaela asked.

He nodded and pointed to a scroll on a table across the room. "Would you bring that here please?"

Jesse handed it to him. " _Blood of the Pharaohs_ ," Iskandar read from the top line after unfurling it.

Jesse looked thoughtful. "When Liv accused us of being godlings," he remembered, "you mentioned that title."

"You have a good memory," Iskandar responded. "Yes, this book records the lineage of all royal descendants."

"Why is this important?" Machaela asked as she tried to look closer. The scroll was filled with lines of hieroglyphs, all written inside cartouches. She remembered Sofia mentioning at one point that cartouches symbolized magic ropes, and they were supposed to protect the bearer of the name from evil magic. They looked like an oval drawn around the hieroglyphs. As she watched, another cartouche appeared at the end of a line.

"You will need this knowledge to help the Kanes," was Iskandar's only answer as he further unrolled the scroll, obviously looking for something. "Ah!" he said finally. "Here it is." He turned the scroll to where they could see it. "Each section of the scroll is the genealogy of a different pharaoh," he began. "This is the section for Thutmose III, of the eighteenth dynasty. He was the stepson of Hatshepsut, the first woman to ascend to the full reign of Pharaoh, and the only one to have a successful reign. Hatshepsut had one daughter, Neferure, who was one of Thutmose III's wives. One of their children was Amenemhat."

"Gesundheit," Jesse told him, in response to the mouthful of a name.

Both Machaela and Iskandar grinned, but neither responded as Iskandar followed the genealogical line to the end, where he tapped on one particular cartouche. Jesse and Machaela looked closer. Inside the circle were four hieroglyphs. The first was a zigzagging line, the second a profile of a lion, another zigzag line, and the last a mittened hand.

"Do either of you recognize this?" he asked.

They kept staring at it. "It _does_ look familiar," Machaela eventually said, "but I can't remember where I saw it." She thought about it for another minute while Iskandar patiently waited. "Is—" She cut herself off but, at Iskandar's encouraging look, spoke her question. "Is it our name?"

Iskandar smiled widely. "Very good. I know you have only seen it once or twice. Yes, this is your name. These hieroglyphs are N, L, N, and D. You remember that Egyptians usually did not use vowels?"

They nodded, but Jesse had a question. "We're blood of the pharaohs?" he asked, slightly stunned their family went back that far.

"You are," Iskandar confirmed. "Your family comes from Hatshepsut through Thutmose III, making your ancestor the first female pharaoh to prosperously assume full rule of Egypt."

"That's pretty cool," Jesse said, "but what does this have to do with the Kanes?"

"That is better understood when the time comes for you to help," Iskandar said. "For now, just remember your ancestry." He set the scroll on the bed next to him, changing the subject before they could protest. "Now, there is one other thing I must give you." He handed Machaela a different scroll, tightly bound and teeming with magic. "I have put many spells into this book," he told her. "Be careful with it. In the wrong hands…" he trailed off into Memoryland again, but Machaela chose not to ask, only setting the scroll aside.

"Why did you call us back early just to give us these?" Jesse brought Iskandar out of his reverie. "What's going on?" he asked again.

He smiled at them gently, but didn't answer, only drawing them into a remembering conversation that stretched well into the night. In between his focus slipping, they talked about the two years they had spent travelling the nomes, and what had happened since then. He told them how proud he was at who they had grown up to be. He reminded them that they should help the Kanes. And he refused to answer any pointed questions on anything he left vague. Eventually, they let him carry the conversation where he wanted, and the three of them talked late into the night.

* * *

Something woke Machaela from a dreamless sleep. She opened her eyes, finding herself sprawled in the chair next to Iskandar's bed, having fallen asleep talking.

But what had woken her? She looked around the dark room. Jesse was asleep in the other chair. The door was open, and no noise came from the living room.

Noise. Something was missing. Her head jerked over to look at Iskandar, and her heart broke. She couldn't hear his breathing.

"Iskandar?" He didn't move. "Iskandar, wake up." She reached out to nudge him, but immediately recoiled. She touched him again, confirming her fear.

He was cold. Iskandar was gone.

 **Thank you for the reviews from Guest. To the one who asked how long this story will be, we're about halfway through.**

 **This and upcoming chapters were so hard to write, probably because Iskandar was one of my favorite characters.**

 **Don't forget to review :)**


	22. Chapter 22

Machaela and Jesse sat in their rooms, staring blankly through the living room into Iskandar's old room.

Sofia had come running at her cries, when she had tried to deny the truth. She had yelled, trying to wake him up, refusing to believe he was de—gone. Jesse woke up to her cries, and joined her in trying to wake him, though his attempts weren't as loud. When Sofia had dragged them away, tears on her face, Machaela's screams had turned to sobs.

She had sobbed; there was no denying it. When people started coming in and out to take care of his bo—take care of him, she had left the room, unable to control her tears and not wanting to cry in front of strangers. She and Jesse had holed up in their rooms, grieving.

The funeral had been four days ago, but they still couldn't believe he was gone.

The leopard's cape had passed to Michel Desjardins. He had immediately ordered Zia, and others, to hunt for the Kanes. She hadn't come back yet, that they had noticed. If they had thought about it, this would have been weird—Zia never failed a mission—but the siblings didn't take the time to think about it. They had lost one of their family members.

What would they do without him? Iskandar, who was always ready with whatever they needed, whether it was advice, help with a spell, or just a playful prank war? He wouldn't be there to pretend exasperation when they nailed him with their latest prank. He wouldn't be there the next time a spell backfired, ready to help them clean up and fend off any demons.

He wouldn't be there the next time Zia needed help, when her fire got out of hand or when she wanted to hear about her village again. He would never be able to surprise her with another family photo he had "happened upon" in the library, or teach her another spell related to the fire she loved wielding so much.

He would never meet their parents, even if Machaela had almost given up hope of ever finding them. The aides had given them a folder filled with notes about places that he had looked. Even towards the end, as he had less energy, he had still searched for their parents. The folder contained years and years of notes and leads and one failed attempt after another, but he had been _trying_. They hadn't known he was still actively searching. She had run out of ideas to try ages ago. He would never see the results of that search.

She faintly remembered reading a myth about a sword with a special metal that attacked the soul, but she couldn't focus long enough to pull the details from her memory. Whether it was Greek or Egyptian or if there had been a cure, she had no idea, but she could relate to the concept. Machaela felt hollow, unable to focus on anything except on the one they had lost, and neither could Jesse, but that no longer meant they cried. No, there were no more tears, only blank stares. Their tears had run dry, but their sorrow remained.

Sofia walked in the door, tear tracks on her face. Wiping her own eyes, she sat between the siblings.

"Hey," she said, trying to get their attention. Machaela leaned against her in hello, but neither teenager said anything.

"I miss him, too, guys," Sofia tried again. They glanced at her, nothing to say to that. Sofia had been close to him before they had even met him. "He raised me too," Sofia said. They just stared at her, somehow surprised that they hadn't been the first ones Iskandar had taken in and raised. It shouldn't have surprised them, though. Everyone knew Iskandar was about 2000 years old.

Sofia nodded, glad to at least have their attention. She hadn't gotten that much in several days. "When I was about nine," she started, "I lived in Italy with my family. We lived in a small mountain village on the Vajont River. The government was building a dam upstream of us, and one day there was a landslide in the lake. An eight-hundred-foot-tall wave cleared the top of the dam and raced down the valley, destroying villages as it went." She paused, taking a breath. "My parents were among the casualties. Iskandar happened to be in the area at the time and joined the search for survivors. He found me sitting where my house used to be, waiting for parents that would never come home."

Jesse scooted closer to Sofia, leaning against her other side in acknowledgement of her story, but he didn't want to talk just yet.

"He wouldn't want you to shut down," Sofia tried again. "It would break his heart to see you like this."

"But he's not _here_!" Machaela burst out. "That's the problem!"

That broke the dam, and the tears flowed again, grieving the death of the man who had taken them in and raised them as his own.

 **Short chapter. Sad chapter. Let me know your thoughts.**


	23. Chapter 23

_BANG BANG BANG!_

Machaela just watched as Sofia slowly made her way to the door. She didn't even want Sofia to answer it, but they had to.

In the month since Iskandar's death, Machaela and Jesse, and by default Sofia, hadn't done much of anything. The siblings all but refused to leave the apartment, not wanting to face the world yet, and Sofia decided to stay with them. She wouldn't admit it, but the duo knew she was worried about them. They hadn't been this down since Operation Notice Me had failed, and, even though Sofia hadn't been there for that, she had been there for the lead up. Sofia knew this might even be harder for the teens: even though he hadn't left them on purpose this time, they still had hope to get him back during Operation Notice Me. No one came back from death.

Only in the last week or so had Machaela and Jesse started coming out of the daze they had retreated into while grieving, and Sofia planned on giving them a couple more days before asking them to come out of it completely.

 _BANG BANG BANG!_

Whoever was on the other side of the door was certainly determined, but Machaela didn't even try to listen to the conversation. Finally, Sofia closed the door in a huff, mumbling uncomplimentary names under her breath, which caught the duo's attention.

"You have a job," Sofia announced.

"Okay," Jesse said. "Well, no. Was that all?"

Sofia shook her head. "Sorry, guys. You don't have a choice. There's been a spike in magic at a school in the states, and the Chief Lector wants you to go investigate."

"He can send someone else," Machaela answered.

"Apparently, you're the only ones young enough to enter and skilled enough to do it."

"What about Zia?" Jesse asked. "Surely she would jump on the chance to go."

Sofia shook her head again. "Zia's not here. I don't know where she is. Probably on a mission. Face it: you have a job.

With a few uncomplimentary names of their own, Machaela and Jesse grabbed their magic kits and left.

The portal spit them out on a busy bridge lined with obelisks. They took a minute to look around, getting their bearings. They had looked through maps, but they had never been to Chattanooga before. Soon enough, they took off at a trot to a nearby high school.

"Here it is," Machaela said, studying the map.

They stopped in front of a large, three-story brick building. In the cloudy light of the early afternoon, several students were out around the property, lounging on the benches, reading textbooks, talking to classmates, and walking in and out of the front doors.

Shoving the map into her pocket, Machaela and Jesse joined the students walking through the front doors. Inside, they began wandering through the halls, following the sensation of magic. Usually when they did this, Jesse would make a joke about using the force, but this time they both kept quiet. They wanted to finish this so they could go back to hiding in their room.

Following the ever-increasing sense of magic, they wandered through the halls and out the back door. Behind the main building were two smaller buildings, and they went inside the smallest one. Towards the end of that building's main hallway, they found the source.

One locker glowed in a clear connection to the Duat. Standing in front of the locker was a blonde-haired girl, caught in the act of opening the locker door.

She jumped at seeing the siblings round the corner, and quickly tried to hide the package in her hand.

"Sorry," Machaela said quietly. "We didn't mean to startle you."

"I thought I was alone," the girl said.

"We followed the magic," Jesse answered. "What do you have there?"

The girl relaxed at his statement. "Oh, you're magicians too?" They nodded. "Then you probably want this." She handed them the package and left with a smile and a cheery wave.

They looked at each other. "Did she seriously—?" Machaela started.

"Yeah," Jesse answered, then shrugged. "Oh, well. Let's see what it is and get back to the First Nome."

After ensuring the hallway would remain empty for a while, they carefully unwrapped the cloth. Inside, they found an old cassette tape and a _djed_ amulet. They exchanged confused looks. What could this be? And why was that girl hiding it?

Machaela pulled a tape player out of the Duat, put the tape in, and hit play.

A boy's voice came from the player. "We only have a few hours, so listen carefully…" They listened for a couple minutes as the boy delivered a bunch of warnings, talking about being careful and going to find a locker with a certain combination. Finally, he quit stalling, and introduced himself. "My name is Carter Kane. I'm fourteen, and my home is a suitcase."

Jesse immediately reached over and paused the tape, exchanging a part surprised, part horrified look with Machaela.

"What should we do with this?" he asked. "Desjardins ordered no contact with the Kanes."

Machaela didn't even hesitate. "Iskandar told us we should help the Kanes," she fired back, "and since when do we listen to Desjardins?"

"Since he became Chief Lector," Jesse answered.

Machaela snorted sarcastically. "We've been hiding in our room since he became Chief Lector. We're going to have to come back to real life eventually. At least with this we can get the Kane's side of the story. Desjardins won't even tell people _his_ side of the story. Don't you want to know the truth? Iskandar told us they would need help, but he didn't tell us with what. If we listen, we'll know what they're doing. If we don't agree, we'll give the tape to Desjardins so no one else can see it."

Jesse thought about it. "Okay," he finally said. "That's fair."

So she hit play. "You think I'm kidding?" Carter's voice said. "Since I was eight years old…"

And so, in the empty back hallway of an emptying school, they listened to two wisecracking voices tell what had happened to them. They were surprised when Zia came into the story. They choked back tears again at Iskandar's death. They followed the fight as it trailed across the country, and they realized how much they had missed at the Red Pyramid when they had ignored all messages.

When the tape ended, Machaela and Jesse sat there in silence for a full minute, absorbing what they had heard.

"Wow," Jesse finally said.

"Yeah." Machaela let the silence stretch another minute. "Iskandar was right. We have to help them."

"But won't that be betraying the House?" Jesse asked, wide eyed.

Machaela thought about that. "No," she finally decided. "It's helping keep the world afloat while the House spins like a chaotic top. Sofia mentioned that Vlad is staying close to Desjardins," Jesse shivered in horror. They had only met Vlad the Inhaler a couple of times, but that had been plenty, "and I wouldn't put it past Vladimir to be influencing Desjardins into being crazier than normal. Until we know that Desjardins isn't being unduly influenced, we follow the Kanes."

"Okay," Jesse replied. "We can still help from the Twenty-First Nome if it comes down to that."

Machaela nodded. "Exactly. Let's put this in that locker and get out of here."

On their way out of the darkened school, the siblings sent a message to Sofia through the Duat, and she was waiting for them at the bridge.

They both wrapped her in a hug. "What's going on?" she asked, hugging them back.

"We've already notified Desjardins that there was nothing in that school," Jesse said.

"But we found a tape with Carter and Sadie Kane's story on it," Machaela jumped in.

"Iskandar was right." Now that they were coming out of their funk a bit, they were finishing each other's sentences again. "We need to help them."

"We're going to New York, but we wanted to tell you before we left."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Sofia broke it. "Slow down. Why are you going to New York? And you won't be coming back?!"

Alternating, the siblings told her what Iskandar had advised them and what the tape had said, finishing with, "And they're right. If he's rising, then we need to go back to the old ways. It's the only way to beat him. Iskandar saw that too. He all but told us as much the night he died. We didn't understand it then, but this is the only thing that makes sense. Carter and Sadie have no training. They'll need help if they're to prevent Doomsday."

Sofia stared at them a minute. "You really think this is what Iskandar wanted you to do?" she finally asked. They nodded, and she took a deep breath. "Okay, then. I won't stop you." She hugged them again. "You're all grown up," she told them. "Where did the time go?" They smiled slightly, and she continued. "If you ever need help, call me. I don't care how old you get, you're still my kids." With a final hug and a promise that she would pack their things and put them into the Duat, she opened up another portal and was gone.

 **I just realized I hadn't updated in...I'm not sure how long. Sorry for forgetting, but I guess that's what happens. Reviews remind, so tell me what you think!**


	24. Chapter 24

Machaela was still wiping her eyes when the portal dropped them onto a large roof. Sofia had been with them almost since the crash, and that goodbye had been difficult. But it wasn't permanent, she told herself. They hadn't seen Sofia around the clock in many years, since before Machaela turned thirteen, and, even now, they could see Sofia whenever they wanted, unlike Iskandar…

Shoving the painful thought from her still-hurting heart, she studied her surroundings. To the east was a large neighborhood; to the west, a river ran next to the building and New York City was skylined in the distance. Looking down, they appeared to be on a nome headquarters mansion, which itself was perched atop a warehouse. _That_ was unusual. The warehouse must be a cover, which would imply there was a particularly high concentration of clear-sighted innocents here.

The door to the roof swung open as she took note of their surroundings, and two kids came out, both of them younger than Jesse. The older one, a boy with light brown skin and hair, walked closer, the younger, a blonde-haired girl, staying a step behind.

"Hello," the boy greeted cautiously.

Machaela smiled hello. "You must be Carter and Sadie. I'm Machaela," she gestured beside her, "my brother Jesse, and we'd like to join."

"Great!" Carter said. "We didn't expect to get three in one day."

"Where are you from?" Sadie asked, smacking her gum.

They tensed, not sure of the reaction. "Egypt," Machaela answered.

Immediately, Carter and Sadie were on the defensive. "Did Desjardins send you?" he asked tersely.

Machaela and Jesse had both stepped back when the others tensed. They shook their heads.

"Iskandar raised us," Machaela told them. "We don't trust Desjardins."

"Especially with who his top advisor is," Jesse added.

"I doubt you know him," Machaela answered their curious looks, "but we found the tape. The House noticed an increasing amount of magic at a school in Chattanooga and sent us. We found a blonde-haired girl there about to put the package in a locker. When we mentioned that we're magicians, she gladly gave us the package before leaving. After listening to it, we decided that that's what Iskandar's last conversation meant, and we came here."

The others relaxed a bit, but still looked at them warily. "Does Desjardins know you're here?" Carter finally asked.

They shook their heads. "We told him there was nothing at the school," Jesse answered, "and the only one who knows we're here is Sofia."

"She's the other one we lived with," Machaela added. "She helped raise us too."

"So can we join or not?" Jesse asked.

Carter and Sadie had relaxed at their assurances, and exchanged glances at Jesse's question. Sadie shrugged, so Carter asked, "The House of Life didn't send you to be spies?" The duo shook their heads again. Carter smiled. "Then welcome."

After halting Carter's tour attempt by pointing out that all nome headquarters have roughly the same layouts, Machaela and Jesse followed as Carter led them to their rooms. Sadie had wandered off, possibly looking for something, or maybe just bored. Even after listening to the tape, Machaela and Jesse didn't really know what to think about her.

"How many initiates are here?" Jesse asked as they were walking.

"We have two others right now," Carter answered. "Walt has a room at the end of the hall, and Jaz just got here today, but there should be one other coming in the next couple days." Machaela raised an eyebrow, wondering how someone new at magic could have sent word ahead of time. Noticing, Carter continued, "A girl named Cleo figured how to send a message, asking for directions. She hasn't sent another, but we think she'll be here in a couple days."

"So do the other two initiates know magic too?" Machaela asked. "I wouldn't have expected them to be able to do much if they've only been researching for a week."

"A week?" Carter repeated. "Where did—oh. You mean from the recording?" She nodded. "Dad set up that amulet to awaken their magic potential and basically give them a crash course in magic. Just enough to get them started. Walt's been here a couple days, but he knew about his heritage before he found the tape. He summoned a portal to get here. Jaz, though, this was completely new to her. She found the warehouse and was trying to get into the mansion when Sadie found her."

The siblings nodded in understanding, and Carter turned a corner to another staircase, going up.

"Do you know your path, yet?" he asked.

"No," Machaela told him. "In the First Nome, I studied statuary and he studied combat magic. But we only decided to come about two hours ago."

"Combat magic? I thought that was solely in path of the gods." He looked a bit puzzled.

"Nope," Jesse said. "Combat magic is another branch of specialty magic. From what Benin, my old teacher, said, in the path of the gods the avatar becomes the god's ancient form, but alone it's whatever shape I want it to be."

Carter stopped walking, standing in front of one of the doors on the third floor. Opening the door, he told Machaela, "This will be your room. Jesse, you can have the next one down. They're fully furnished, so don't worry about not having your stuff. Dinner's in three hours." He left them to settle in, not noticing the amused expressions on their faces.

"Don't worry about not having anything," Jesse repeated with a laugh, following his sister into her room. "He must not be experienced with the Duat."

Machaela was laughing a bit, too, but didn't immediately reply as she studied her new room. It was spacious, with much more floor space than she was accustomed to having. A king-sized bed sat in the far left corner. Behind the head of the bed was a large sliding glass door, which led to a balcony overlooking the river. In the wall opposite the bed was a small kitchen, bathroom, and walk-in closet. A table sat next to the kitchen, a single chair pushed in. The room was sparse, but adequate, and they could always improve it.

Jesse stepped into the hall, returning almost immediately. "My room's a mirror image," he told her.

"They're probably all alike," she answered, studying the room. "There's something missing…"

Jesse looked around. "Yeah," he said immediately. "A door." She sarcastically pointed her thumb at the door behind them, and he rolled his eyes. "One _between_ our rooms, smart alec."

She gave him a cheeky grin, but turned toward the wall their rooms shared. "Step back," she told him. "We don't know if they have protective spells in place." With her brother behind her, she spoke a familiar spell, one that brought both good and hard memories. Iskandar had used it to open the door between their rooms so long ago…

She shoved the thought from her mind as a section of wall glowed, then faded to reveal a door. Jesse opened the door, glad to be able to go back and forth without going into the hall, while she called several suitcases from the Duat.

"Jesse!" she called him back. "Sofia's packed our stuff!"

He came back in carrying something. "Do you know what this is?" He held it up as she turned around.

"That's weird looking." She took it from him, turning it over in her hand. About the height of her forearm, the hourglass-shaped object was rock hard and covered in hieroglyphs. The base was flat, but a column carved to look like a human with his arms raised held up the curved top. "Where was it?"

"On the bed where a pillow should be."

Recognition sparked. "Oh!" She tossed it back to him. "That's an old headrest. Some people use it to prevent _ba_ travel while they sleep. We used to have those, too, once we got strong enough to need them."

"I don't remember using them."

She chuckled at him. "No, I guess you wouldn't remember. We only used them for about a month, and you were six at the time. Iskandar placed a grounding spell on a regular pillow after he realized we weren't sleeping with them." A mixture of emotions crossed her face at Iskandar's name. She liked remembering him. It made him seem closer, but it hurt at the same time, and so much seemed to remind her of him. The loss was still too fresh. "I kept dumping it on the floor and going without. When he found out, he fastened it to the bed, and I ended up staying awake all night, unable to sleep."

"Did he teach you the spell?" Jesse asked, trying to keep the conversation moving away from memories.

"Yes, he did, but we don't need it." She pulled her pillow out of a suitcase. "Sofia remembered to pack our pillows.

They unpacked, settling into their new rooms. Machaela enjoyed finding the fridge stocked with several of her favorite foods and pointed it out to Jesse, who raided his own fridge and started munching right away. Their walls were white, but Machaela, of course, knew several decoration spells. She changed her walls to show earthy colors and a view of the Colorado Rockies. Jesse got her to change his walls to the sky blue of a Colorado summer sky, as well as the view of the Rockies.

By the time everything was as they wanted it, it was nearly dinner time. With stomachs grumbling, they wandered down to the main floor and out to the terrace, eyeing the… _unique_ decorations on their way.

They car-sized fireplace, large sofa, and proportionally sized plasma TV were common occurrences in a headquarters Great Room, but the jazz instruments? Not so much. Many different kinds of instruments lined the walls, interspersed with a wider variety of Ancient Egyptian weapons, most of which the duo recognized. At the back of the Great Room, through the glass walls, they could see the wrap-around terrace, complete with a dining area and a pool. Inside the pool, a pure-white crocodile floated lazily in the water. Apparently, Philip of Macedonia only moved quickly when under attack or when thrown pieces of bacon by someone at the table.

Before announcing themselves, they studied those around the table. Carter and Sadie were easy to recognize. The blonde girl they had seen at the high school was Jaz. She was talking to a dark-skinned boy of about fifteen who must be Walt, the first initiate to arrive. A large baboon wearing a Lakers jersey sat next to him, eating a strange looking piece of meat with pink feathers still attached. Going by the tape, that would be Khufu, Amos'…pet? Roommate? Presiding over all of this, acting as if they all belonged to her, was a lithe young woman. Her jet-black hair was pulled into a tight ponytail, and she wore a leopard-skin jumpsuit. She must be the cat goddess, Bast.

They wandered out onto the terrace, tensing a bit when all eyes turned to them. All their training screamed at them to fight the goddess: the goddess should _not_ be there, but they fought it down. This was their life now, and there was no going back.

"Hi," Machaela said quietly. Jesse gave a small wave, which seemed to break the staring contest.

"Oh!" Jaz broke the silence. "You're the ones I ran into at the school!" She seemed to relax somewhat at their nod. "Oh, I'm so glad. It didn't occur to me until later you might have been the House of Life."

Machaela and Jesse exchanged glances at this. "Um," Machaela started. "We were." Her voice was quiet, uncertain as to how much she should say. Her voice cracking on the name, she continued before they could react. "But Iskandar believed in your cause. We decided to follow his last wish."

As Jaz absorbed that, they grabbed some food and found a seat as far as they could from the goddess, who was staring at them just as much as they were her.

"You left the First Nome to come here?" Bast asked dubiously.

They nodded. "I'm Machaela, and he's Jesse, by the way. And yes, we lived in the First Nome for about seven years. Among other things, Iskandar told us about our heritage the night he—the night he—" she gulped and forced the words out, "the night he died. He told us we should assist Carter and Sadie, and that the knowledge of our heritage would come in handy when we came to help."

"So who is your ancestor?" Bast asked. The others' head swung back over to them, like a tennis match. They seemed content to watch this interview, but Machaela couldn't blame them. The House of Life and Brooklyn House should have been allies, but Desjardins had halted that for now. They had every right to be nervous at first, and the siblings didn't mind the questions, however embarrassing it was to be put on the spot. What they didn't like so much was that all the questions came from Bast, but it made sense in a way. Bast seemed to be acting as protector, and the Red Pyramid tape had made it pretty clear how protective Bast was of Sadie and, later, Carter.

"Hatshepsut," Jesse answered, "through Thutmose III."

Bast's eyebrows raised in surprise. "The female pharaoh? What are your specialties?"

"Shabtis and combat," Machaela answered.

Bast gave a hum of surprise. "Not what I expected, but still good."

"What did you expect?" Jesse asked.

"Something more to do with spells. As the only woman to ever wear the Double Crown, most of the daughter of Ra's descendants are more skilled than average magicians. The last known descendant of Hatshepsut was a natural diviner, and the one before a natural with Divine Words, which is very rare."

The siblings, determined not to give anything away, kept their expressions calm, Iskandar's warning ringing in their mind. Even if the consequences were moot, old habits die hard.

"Huh," Machaela finally replied, forcing her voice to stay steady. "Interesting. A blessing of some sort?"

Bast shrugged. "Spells are not my forte. I don't know anything but the rumors and results." She turned back to the can of Fancy Feast in front of her.

With Bast's apparent approval, conversation started back up, and the siblings began trying to get to know the other trainees, as Carter and Sadie were calling them.

 **Thank you to kiminocencio63 for your review.**

 **Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, and remember to review :D**


	25. Chapter 25

The next day, Machaela and Jesse went to their first class, Magic Problem-Solving 101, which Carter held in the large training room on the second floor.

When they walked in, Carter wasn't there yet. Walt and Jaz were, though, so the siblings wandered over.

"Morning," Jesse said.

Walt nodded hello as Jaz spun around. "Good morning!" Jesse resisted taking half a step back. Jaz was _entirely_ too bubbly for this early in the morning. "How'd you sleep?"

Machaela shrugged. "Good enough." She looked around. "Why are the Ra statues like that?" Statues of various gods were spread around the mansion, of course, but these particular statues of the sun god had the sun ring above Ra's head hollowed out and the entire statue jutting perpendicular to the wall.

"Carter is apparently a fan of basketball," Walt replied. "We decided the statues were handy and made great basketball hoops."

Jesse chuckled. "That sounds like a prank waiting to happen."

Machaela gave him a cautious glance, agreeing but not quite that relaxed in their new home. "So what kind of class is this?" she asked, changing the subject. Jaz looked to Walt as well, maybe wondering the same thing.

"Carter calls it Magic Problem-Solving," Walt answered, "but it's really better named Whatever Works. He'll give us a problem, and we can solve it however we want. When it's done to satisfaction, we're dismissed. For you three, he'll probably pick something that gives him an idea of what magic you already know and what he can help you learn."

"Considering you've only been here a few days, Walt," Carter said as he walked in, "You sure do know about my teaching method."

Walt spun around, replying, "Well, that's what you did with me."

Carter grinned, turning to the others. "He's right," he told them. "I was homeschooled. I have no idea how regular school works, and I see no reason to make you stick around even after the assignments are done."

Calling four trunks from the Duat, he positioned one person in front of each.

"For the first part of today's class," he continued, "open the trunk without damaging it or the lock."

Machaela and Jesse immediately turned to the trunk before them, though they made sure to position themselves so they could see Walt and Jaz.

Machaela quickly decided on a method and started kneading some wax while muttering spells.

Jesse, though, wasn't quite sure how to proceed. He was better with combat than spells, so he watched the others for a minute, seeing their methods.

Jaz went for simple and effective. She took a bobby pin out of her hair and started picking the lock. Walt, however, seemed to be hesitating. Fingering several amulets on his necklace and belt, he examined the trunk, going around and around tapping the outside.

As Walt finally picked an amulet and started, Jesse got an idea. Picturing the trunk like one of his puzzle boxes, he began knocking on the wood in several places around the sides, listening.

Machaela finished her shabti, which turned into some kind of four-legged lizard-type animal at her command word. It nosed around the outside of the box, then sucked its legs in and crawled into the keyhole. A moment later, the lock clicked, and the top opened, revealing a slowly melting hot fudge sundae.

Jaz finished picking her lock at about the same time, and her box clicked open. They sat down to eat, watching the boys.

Walt finished working with his amulet, and his box finally opened a minute later. Now only Jesse's box was still closed.

"Come on, Jesse!" Machaela said, watching him knock on the wood, though his knocks seemed to be more precisely placed than they were a minute before. "You can do it!"

Jesse didn't look up, focused on his plan. He tapped solidly on the side of the trunk, then turned it ninety degrees and tapped lightly on the back. The lock clicked, and he dug into his ice cream, giving his sister a smug look.

Carter looked a bit confused. He glanced at Sadie, who was watching from the sidelines as she read through scrolls, but when she didn't comment, he turned back to Jesse. "No magic?" he finally asked.

Jesse shrugged. "You didn't say we had to use magic," he answered, "and, besides, I'm a combat magician. I can't use those more precise spells like Machaela can. But I do know that everything has a pattern." He pointed his chocolate-covered spoon at the box. "It's just like a puzzle box. I simply hit it in the right order to spring the lock."

Carter chose not to comment and started setting up the next test. By the time the others had finished their ice cream, he had four pillars standing around the room, each with something resting on top, well out of reach.

"On top of each of these pillars," Carter told them, "is a very brittle piece of clay. Get the clay off the pillar without breaking it. Machaela? No shabtis. Those are your specialty, and I want to see what else you can do. Jesse? Jaz? Use magic, anything you can. Jesse, I want to see what kind of magic you favor. Jaz, I want to see what magic you know."

He looked ready to have them start, but Sadie called over to them before he could. "He means do it without breaking the clay, not the pillar."

Carter looked at her weirdly. That's what he had said, but her eyes were on Jesse, who seemed torn between frowning at her and laughing. "Thanks for stealing my loophole, Sadie!" he called sarcastically.

She just grinned. "No problem."

"What loophole?" Carter asked.

"You should work on your phrasing, brother dear," was Sadie's answer. "You said to get the clay off the pillar without breaking it."

"So?" Carter replied.

Jesse huffed. "A pronoun's antecedent is the closest noun prior to the pronoun. In your sentence, that's pillar, so even though I knew what you meant, that was a loophole. I'm a combat magician, Carter. I don't _do_ complex spells on the fly. I hit the enemy with a sword. If it moves, I hit it again. I might use complex strategies to do that, but the end result is the same."

Carter shook his head. "How did you catch that, Sadie? I thought you hated English class."

She rolled her eyes. "Who doesn't? But Gran was a stickler for that, always going on about a proper young lady knowing her own language. After my mates heard her, we started making a game of it."

Carter turned away, obviously uncomfortable at the mention of his grandmother, and Machaela remembered the mention of the Spatula Incident.

Jaz must have been thinking the same thing. "Can we start, now?"

Carter cleared his throat. "Yes. Begin!"

Jesse saw Walt reach for an amulet and Machaela start a spell, but he was still floundering. After a moment, though, as he watched Machaela's spell float the clay down, he decided to stick with simple. Focusing on the piece of clay, he shoved it into his Duat locker. At the same time that Machaela's piece came to rest in her hand, his piece appeared in his.

Walt's bird turned back into an amulet at the same time Jaz gently caught the falling clay, and they all turned back to Carter.

"Okay," he says. "Walt, Jaz, Machaela, you're dismissed. Jaz and Machaela, you should probably start researching the gods, deciding which path suits your interests and knowledge. Walt, go ahead and pick up where you left off. Jesse," Carter faced him, noticing his raised eyebrow at being singled out, "I want you to do one more challenge, since you're a combat magician." Carter pulled a shabti out of his bag and set it on the ground in front of Jesse. "Give it your best. Show off. Show me what you can do. However long or short it takes to defeat the shabti, use combat magic."

Jesse nodded, calling his _kopis_ from the Duat and taking a defensive stance a few feet away from the shabti as Carter's command word made it grow.

"Begin!"

The shabti attacked, and Jesse dodged the first strike. He quickly realized someone more skilled than Carter had made this shabti, as it was a very good fighter. It experimented with a simple stab, but he batted it away. It then launched into a series of complicated footwork, combining stabs with slashes and twirls, and Jesse, still deciding on his method to kill it, simply defended.

After about a minute of dodging and blocking, the shabti was as close to exasperated as a magically-animated piece of clay could get, and Jesse decided on his method.

 _You want me to show off?_ he thought. _You're on!_

He stepped into the shabti's next lunge, using the flat of his _kopis_ to knock the shabti's _khopesh_ to the side. Jesse's next swing disarmed the shabti, literally. The shabti's sword and lower forearm flew through the air, turning to shards upon hitting the floor. Jesse took a step back, making the observers wonder what he was doing—the shabti wasn't dead yet. Jesse's intent became apparent a moment later, however, when an avatar appeared around his arm and sword. With a quick swipe, the avatar tip of the sword sliced through the shabti, shattering it into small pieces.

He turned back towards the others, his _kopis_ disappearing into the Duat as he turned. His sister grinned at him, glad he had had a chance to show off his skill. Carter, however, looked slightly speechless. Perhaps he hadn't expected the avatar, even though Jesse had mentioned them in passing the day before.

"Sadie?" he finally asked. "Were you watching that?"

Jesse saw Sadie roll her eyes from her seat. "Of course I was. Quite a show that was."

Jesse gave her a cheeky grin. "That's what he asked for."

Carter pulled a face at them for the teasing, but waved the others closer. "Does anyone have an objection to Machaela and Jesse teaching basic magic in addition to Sadie and me?" He directed his question at Walt, Jaz, and Sadie, but also left it open for Machaela or Jesse to plead out. Nobody replied, and he turned to the siblings. "You up for that? You can teach some of the basic magic instead of or in addition to Sadie and me, and we'll focus on teaching the path of the gods."

Machaela and Jesse looked at each other, each seeing if the other had a problem with that. Slowly, Jesse shrugged, a small smile on his face. "Sure," Machaela answered for them both. "Why not?"

 **Thank you to** **Panemat** **for your reviews. You made my day.**

 **To all my readers, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and don't forget to review!**


	26. Chapter 26

"FELIX!"

Over the sound of a far-off chuckle, she heard footsteps pound in the hallway, and Jesse appeared in the doorway to his sister's room. "What—oh, wow."

Machaela turned around to face him, looking livid, growling, "This is the third time this week! I'm gonna kill him!"

Jesse completely understood her anger. Nearly a month ago, when they first moved in, they had both used spells to decorate their rooms the way they wanted, changing the horribly white walls to something with more color. Now, though, only _his_ was decorated well.

Someone had, yet again, crept in here while they were teaching Combat Basics and changed her room. Theoretically, it could have been any one of the ten other trainees, not to mention Carter or Sadie, though Jesse rather doubted Carter had a penchant for pranks. Given the circumstances, however, this time it was easy to narrow it down.

Machaela's room was now a winter wonderland, complete with live penguins, and only one trainee had an obsession with penguins.

Machaela started to yell out his name again, but this time, Jesse stopped her. "Kill him with kindness," Jesse told her, herding her back into the room. She graced him with the most frustrated look he had seen on her in a while, since before Iskandar had died, at least, but he continued, "And top it off with payback." Her frustration began to ebb, which he took as a good sign. "It's been a while since we had a prank war. You up for it?"

She stared at him, surprised. It _had_ been a while since their last prank. In fact, she hadn't really done much outside of teaching in the past couple of months. She had reacted more violently to Iskandar's death than Jesse had, having spent more time with Iskandar over the years, and she realized Jesse had been carrying a lot of their weight these last several weeks as he slowly came out of the grieving stage in which she had been firmly rooted. Yes, she had resumed talking, functioning, acting "normal," but she hadn't been the same sister Jesse had had all his life. Maybe this would give her the final nudge she needed to get back on her feet.

Waiting for her answer, Jesse saw something come into her expression he hadn't seen in quite a while. When the mischievous smile lit Machaela's face, Jesse grinned widely. His sister was back.

"Felix just got himself a world of hurt," Machaela told him, still grinning.

Fixing her room with a wave of her hand, she and Jesse sat on the bed. "How far should we go with this?" she asked him.

Jesse's grin bordered evil. "Changing your room to the Antarctic? I think he needs to warm up some…" He started listing off several things they could do as payback, all simple spells for Machaela, though Felix may not have heard of them. When they finished their planning, Jesse couldn't help the smile on his face. "We've never pranked here," he pointed out.

"Felix will never expect it," she agreed. She paused, thinking. "Sorry I've been so withdrawn."

He scooted closer to her. "Hey, I understand. You always were a bit closer to him than I was. You spent every day with him during your training, but I was only ever able to see him in the evenings. He was _our_ family, but _your_ mentor."

She wrapped an arm around him. Even at fifteen and seventeen, they were still just as close as they had been at five and seven. Both were well aware that others might find that strange, but they didn't care. There was nothing wrong with the familial bond they had. They were each other's best friend, plus they were the only family they had left. The siblings had long ago vowed to never leave each other.

"He taught me most of these spells, you know," Machaela told him after a minute. "How about we say this prank is in his honor? This is our own memorial for him, since I doubt either of us remember the actual funeral."

Jesse's relief told her she had said the right thing. "Yeah," he answered. "This one's for Iskandar. Want to stick to the tradition?"

She grinned. "You bet. Let's use a chocolate coin instead, though. The one I got from Iskandar is safely in my jewelry box."

"Mine's in my safe," Jesse answered, pulling a chocolate coin from his stash in the Duat. Count on Jesse to always have chocolate with him.

Starting shortly after the Cairo earthquake, Machaela, Jesse, and Iskandar had followed a tradition with prank wars. When one of their pranks had nearly injured one of Iskandar's aides, they had agreed on a single warning that there was a prank war going. The one (or ones) declaring war would give (or sometimes just show) the other(s) a coin, usually one of the collectible coins they had gotten in England. That was their only warning. At that point, prank war was declared, and the one under fire could find the result at any time in the next week, or not at all. One of Jesse's prank wars consisted solely of making Machaela think everything _could_ jump out at her. Sometimes the best revenge was simply a few well-placed words.

Before dinner that night, they left the coin next to Felix's plate. With a cry of delight, and barely a thank you to the table in general, he ripped into the chocolate, never knowing just what the coin meant. And how could he? No one at Brooklyn House had ever seen the siblings play a prank, much less heard their stories of living with Iskandar.

Forewarning or not, the prank war was on.

 **Short chapter, I know, but that was the only place to end it. reviews=faster updates, so let me know your thoughts! :D**


	27. Chapter 27

Something strange was going on at Brooklyn House. Objects changed rooms on their own. A leopard seal appeared in the fireplace, startling Felix's penguins into running, and disappearing, through solid brick. Felix showed up for a morning class inexplicably soaked, claiming water had appeared above his head in the hallway, dumping on him. Alyssa opened Felix's door to look for him, then quickly closed it with a startled yelp, telling Carter, who was passing by, that the ocean was in his room. When Carter opened to door to see for himself, the glamor flickered in and out for a few seconds, then died, revealing Felix's normal bedroom.

At lunch, Carter brought up the topic, asking Felix why he was messing with so much—Felix often played magic pranks around the house, but never had he played so many at once—but he didn't get the answer he expected.

"I'm not doing any of it!"

Carter gave him the stink eye, as if doubting his honesty. Machaela and Jesse's smirk went unnoticed as they looked down at their food.

"I'm not!" he insisted. "Someone got rid of my snacks and put asparagus in my fridge this morning, and I can't get rid of it." He made a face. "That stuff tastes nasty! Lamps refuse to work when I come near, and I woke up this morning with my bed full of lizards!"

By now, Sadie was having trouble hiding a grin, but Carter, being more serious than the others, just frowned. "Anyone want to admit to these?" he asked the table.

No one answered, of course.

"Whoever it is must not be done," Jesse said before Carter could try again.

Felix pouted, but Bryan, an eleven year old from Ohio, spoke up. "You play a lot of pranks on others," he reminded Felix. "Payback is always fair game."

"He makes a good point," Machaela added. "Whoever's doing it might be retaliating for a prank you did."

"Has anyone given you a coin recently?" Jesse asked.

"A coin?" Sadie cut in. "What the dickens does a coin have to do with this?"

Jesse feigned a puzzled expression. "Have you never heard of the tradition of giving or showing a coin as forewarning of a prank war?" Several around the table shook their heads. "Huh," Jesse said. "It must only be a thing across the pond." Machaela chuckled at his wording. Sadie was apparently losing her accent by giving it to Jesse.

"Do chocolate coins count?" Felix asked before Jesse could continue his statement.

"Any coins do," Jesse answered. "So you _did_ get a coin recently?"

Felix nodded. "Someone put a chocolate coin on my dinner plate the day before yesterday."

"So _that's_ what you thanked the table as a whole for," Jaz said.

"Yeah. I love chocolate coins! I thought someone just found it and knew I like them."

Jesse watched as Felix took another bite from his sandwich, obviously wondering who was retaliating for a prank. Sadie would be the obvious choice, but Felix hadn't pranked her in a while. Carter _never_ played pranks; he was much too serious for that. Alyssa might, but her spells usually had something to do with earth. Even though Machaela should be the obvious choice, since Felix had played a prank on her a few days before, it wasn't his first prank on her, and she had never retaliated before. She never started pranks on her own, always more focused on her own thoughts.

Jesse continued watching Felix as the conversation around them fluctuated and changed. The boy seemed confused, even as his eyes darted around the table, wondering who could be behind the tricks, and Jesse couldn't stop his grin. With this being their first prank in Brooklyn House, no one would ever guess.

After lunch, Machaela and Jesse managed to be within sight for the next one. Early afternoons, they taught Shabti 101 and usually had to get something from their rooms before class. They ended up a few paces behind Felix, who had darted to his room down to hall.

A moment after he opened his door, Machaela and Jesse heard a "Woah!"

"What happened to my room?!" he yelled. Under the guise of helping, the siblings joined Cleo and Alyssa at his door.

Peeking through the doorway, they shared his amazement. Felix's room had been turned into an Amazon jungle, complete with vines, bugs, and monkeys swinging through the trees. More and more people noticed the commotion and came to check it out. Soon, even Bast was pushing her way to the front.

"What's this?" she asked. "Why are you all clustered here?"

Machaela took a step to the side, giving Bast access to the room. She stepped through the doorway and immediately jumped about a foot in the air. Unable to hold it in, Machaela laughed. A glamor puddle had appeared in front of the door, and Bast had jumped to avoid getting wet.

Casting a haughty look behind her, Bast continued into the room, looking for Felix, who had gone exploring. She came back a moment later, Felix in tow.

"Sweet room!" Bryan told him. "I've always wanted to see the rainforest."

Felix wasn't as interested. "My penguins are missing! It's too hot and wet in here!"

"You'll have to wait until the glamor times out," Bast told him.

"You can't disable the spell?" Machaela asked. "You're able to do spells in the myths."

"Only those related to the sun," was Bast's reply. "I am a goddess of combat, not magic."

"Huh. Well, I'll disable it for you, Felix," Machaela told him. "Whoever placed the spell probably got their fun out of it already anyway."

With a wave of her hand, the forest blinked and died, leaving Felix's room a regular room with walls decorated with pictures of penguins.

The show over, Bast and the others wandered off, though Bast did throw Machaela a calculating look. She would have to be more careful if she wanted to keep her spell making ability hidden.

"How did you do that?" Felix asked, bouncing around them.

Machaela shrugged. "It was just a glamor. Those are easy to change into other spells or disable altogether. You coming to the shabti class?"

He nodded and darted back into his room to grab his magic kit. A minute later, from their own rooms, Machaela and Jesse looked into the hallway to see him run past, a second pair of shoes keeping pace behind him. They laughed, imagining Felix's reaction to having an invisible partner for the rest of the day.

By dinner, everyone had seen Felix's new imaginary friend, and two or three people had teased him, saying at least others could see his friend's feet, if not the rest of him. Felix just pouted. Pranks were fun to play on others, but they weren't as fun the other way around.

Conversation at dinner ranged from Felix's magic going haywire during Shabti 101 to a few curious statements between Sadie and Carter about some spell book. They refused to elaborate, and Jesse was about to try to get it out of them, when Machaela initiated the final part of their prank.

Bryan and Della, a ten year old from Georgia, were at the buffet table when they suddenly gasped loudly enough to draw everyone's attention.

Jesse looked over to see the mashed potatoes bubbling up like a forming volcano. A glanced at Machaela proved she was behind it, so he sat back and enjoyed the show.

With everyone's eyes glued to the moving food, the mound bubbled higher and higher, reaching about a foot high. Then it split into two mounds, which split again into four. The mounds smoothed out, gaining shape, as they glided from the buffet table and over to the dinner table.

Upon reaching the dinner table, the mounds finished shifting, and all could see they were…

"Felix!" Carter told him, having tensed a bit at this prank. "Don't scare everyone like that."

The nine year old put his hands in the air. "Not my penguins! I'm not that good with shabtis!"

The shabti penguins waddled their way all around the table, avoiding plates and cups as they made their way to stand in front of one place.

"Then who's are they?!"

Yet again, nobody answered his question. They were too busy laughing, for right then, standing in a semi-circle facing Felix, they had all opened their mouths and sprayed a steady stream of mashed potatoes all over his plate, lap, and face.

"Okay," Felix said after the penguins had finished spraying and jumped onto his lap to dissolve. "Good prank." He wiped the potato from his eyes. "Whose is it?"

Jesse had a large grin on his face as Machaela spoke up. "Perhaps you might keep your winter wonderland in your own room?"

"It was you?!" Felix had said it, but nearly every face at the table seemed astonished. "But you're always so serious!"

Jesse's grin widened when she laughed. "I guess I haven't been myself recently, but the prank brought back so many memories. I couldn't resist." She looked at the curious expressions around her and decided to answer their unspoken question. "You all know we lived in Egypt before coming here," she told them. Several around the table nodded. "And you've all heard Carter and Sadie's recording about the pyramid." Everyone knew pieces, but Machaela and Jesse had never really opened up about their training, mostly because the memory was still washed in grief. "We never mentioned who we lived with in the First Nome." She swallowed and jumped in. "Before he died, Iskandar didn't just tell us to come here. He raised us."

She broke eye contact with the rest of the table, so Jesse spoke up. "While Carter, Sadie, and the rest were duking it out at the Red Pyramid, we had locked ourselves in our rooms." He looked down at his plate. "That was a hard week."

Nobody said anything for several seconds, and the siblings started to worry about everyone's reactions.

Finally, Jaz broke the silence. "That's _horrible_!" Others around the table voiced their agreements, but Jaz continued. "Does that mean your parents are dead?"

Machaela shook her head quickly and explained how they had been separated from their family. "We may have gotten separated from them, but they're not dead."

"We'll find them someday," Jesse added.

"Until then, though, I'll try to come out of my shell a bit," she finished with a smile. "I know I haven't been the liveliest of teachers for you all." She turned to their resident nine-year-old. "As for _you_ " she said with a grin, "it's all fun and games until your pranks get returned. For every prank you play, remember payback is fair game. Iskandar was the king of pranks, and almost all we know came from him. _Comprende_?"

He nodded, asking, "What language was that?"

With another laugh that Jesse had sorely missed, Machaela was off, telling stories about their time in the First Nome, including her love of languages.

 **And here's the ending of the prank war. Big thanks to Panemat for your review. I've been out of the country for the last week, and your review reminded me to update.**

 **Don't forget to review. Constructive criticism, what you like, what you think I can improve, even one word reviews are welcome. Please tell me what you think! :D**


	28. Chapter 28

Machaela woke to footsteps pounding down the hallway outside her door. Peeking out, she just barely caught a glimpse of Carter rushing toward the Great Room. Knowing something was going on, she hurried to dress, then followed him, Jesse catching up with her in the hallway.

"Did you hear him rushing down the hall?" he asked as they followed.

"Yeah. It's too early to be up and around. Something has to be going on."

Making their way through the dark, quiet halls, she thought about the past two months. Since they had come to Brooklyn, they had grown in ways they never could in Egypt. Machaela had chosen to follow the path of Ptah, since his ability to create with words closely matched her still-hidden ability with Divine Words. Jesse had chosen the path of Horus, a choice he shared with Carter, of course, and one of the other trainees, a seventh grader from Boston named Julian.

The first month, before Felix's pranks, she really had just been going through the motions, but this past month had been so much better. As she came out of her shell, Jesse relaxed more, and they found the playful banter they had lost in the wake of Iskandar's death. They had kept in touch with Sofia, though they hadn't been able to see her in a while. Their classes were going much better, and all the trainees were learning quickly, partly due to how much fun their classes were. They had settled into a steady routine of teaching, and found they enjoyed it.

Moving from the student to the teacher had also solidified Machaela and Jesse's knowledge of magic and spell making, since they had to be able to teach it in a manner easily understood by even young Felix. Due to this, their magic ability had come a long way since December, and Machaela was finding it harder and harder to keep her natural ability with Divine Words hidden. With her magic getting stronger, her instinctive use was harder and harder to cut off, especially since, it being her natural ability, Divine Words didn't use nearly as much of her magic reserves as they did other magicians'.

In the past several days, however, something had started intruding on their routine. Sadie and Carter had been a bit more reserved, and more than once Machaela and Jesse had walked in on a conversation quickly cut short. Maybe now they would find out what was going on.

After searching several rooms, they finally found Carter, Sadie, and Bast talking in the Great Room. Machaela and Jesse walked closer, but the trio grew quiet as soon as they got within earshot.

"What are you doing up?" Bast asked them.

Machaela raised an eyebrow. "It's five a.m. and Carter booked it past my room. _Something's_ up."

All eyes turned to Carter, who looked a bit sheepish. "Sorry," he told them. "I didn't mean to wake you. Everything's fine. You can go back to bed."

Machaela looked unsure, but Jesse was watching the trio, eyes darting back and forth. "You had a dream, didn't you?" he finally asked. None of them answered, and he watched Carter, who was having a hard time keeping a straight face. "Was it about the book you mentioned last month?"

The trio's expressions all changed, confirming his theory. "I think you hit it," Machaela told Jesse, but kept her eyes on the others. "Care to explain what's going on?"

Sadie, Carter, and Bast all exchanged glances. "We weren't planning on telling trainees yet," Sadie said. "Avoiding distraction and all that."

"But, you're not really trainees, technically," Carter mused.

"Not really," Machaela agreed. "You're not training us in magic, only providing guidance in the path of the gods."

"Fine," Carter said with a sigh. "We need to wake Ra, and the book you heard us mention is the spell book that wakes him. It's been split into three parts, and Horus just told me where to find the first part."

"Which is?" Jesse asked when Carter stopped talking.

"The Brooklyn Museum," he answered. "We're raiding a museum tonight."

"Okay," Jesse started, thinking. "The magic wards on that place are _tight_." He looked toward Machaela, who picked up the train of thought.

"You'll have to take the scroll out through the roof. There are curses on every other window and door that activate when an item is removed, not to mention just about every artifact in there is too big for the other windows."

"You should take Jaz," Jesse picked up. "Her path of Sekhmet is well balanced against any curses you might meet."

"We'll stay here and keep the basic classes going," Machaela jumped in. "That will give the others more normalcy. What about Walt for someone else? He has his amulets, and he is the next one with the most training."

Carter and Sadie looked at Bast, who shrugged. "You want to keep your numbers low. The more people you bring, the harder it is to keep track of everyone, and the more likely it is that an accident will occur. Jaz and Walt are fine magicians."

"We'll talk it over and announce it later," Carter told Machaela and Jesse. "In the meantime, though, don't mention it to the others."

Nodding agreement, Machaela and Jesse went back to their rooms. Five was much too early to be up.

Three hours later, they started their day for real, going to breakfast then beginning their classes.

With Basic Spell Making and Shabtis and Combat in the morning and researching their own paths in the afternoon, the siblings had a full day. They kept an eye on Sadie and Carter, but all day the duo never announced their intentions, only pulling Jaz and Walt aside at dinner.

Finally, after some hectic questions from Felix after dinner about why Jaz and Walt got to go somewhere, Carter told everyone they needed to get an artifact from the Brooklyn Museum. He said they would go after dark, but refused to say anything about _why_ they needed it. The others soon stopped asking, for now, and three hours after sunset the four museum raiders left.

Bast, Machaela, and Jesse tried to keep everyone busy while the other four were gone, but, as it got closer and closer to when the others would be back, they found themselves gathering on the stairway that led to the roof.

Felix was bouncing around just as much as usual, but now he had Bryan and Della excited with him. Bast was just explaining for the umpteenth time that _no, he could definitely not put his penguins on the roof as a welcome back_ , when one of the others cried out.

"The city's on fire!"

Immediately, everyone shut up and gazed, wide eyed, at the city around the mansion. Forming a clear path from the museum were ghostly flames. Sirens resounded all around them, and people in the streets below hurried out of now burning buildings as a griffin landed on the Brooklyn House roof.

"FREEEEK!" it screamed, and the younger trainees scattered, cutting a wide berth around the monster.

Jesse immediately jumped in front of the others, _kopis_ in hand. About to attack, he stopped when Carter hurried between him and the griffin. Carter quickly gave a rundown of what had happened as he tried to corral the oversized hummingbird-lion-falcon reject. He wasn't having much luck, but he also refused any help, claiming he had it under control, so Jesse went to find his sister.

He found her next to an unconscious Jaz. As Walt looked on worriedly, Machaela was trying to find something, anything, that would help. After Walt explained what she had done, though, Machaela had to shake her head.

"She overextended her magic," Machaela said, "and it sounds like, while the spell worked overall, it backfired in that she absorbed the spirits. She's lucky to be alive."

With most of the trainees gathered around, Walt asked, "Can't you heal it?"

Still working, Machaela slowly shook her head. "I am not a healer, and I doubt many healers know how to treat this. Oh, why didn't I go instead?" She muttered the last part, but Jesse had heard. He put his hand on her shoulder in a clear gesture saying _Not your fault_.

Jesse glanced around the roof. Most of the trainees were watching Machaela work on Jaz, but Carter was still fighting the griffin and Sadie was no longer on the roof. He turned back in time to find Machaela bundling Jaz onto the stretcher to take to the infirmary.

 **I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and I wish you a Happy New Year. If you enjoyed the chapter, don't forget to review! :)**


	29. Chapter 29

Breakfast the next morning quickly became tense.

A strange man waited for everyone at the head of the table. When Jesse greeted him, he introduced himself as Amos. Machaela and Jesse, and everyone else, recognized the name from the tape, of course, but no one really knew what to expect from him. Had hosting Set changed him? How much had he healed? Machaela and Jesse kept a wary eye on him, ready to go on the defensive if he was still possessed by Set.

After a couple of quiet minutes, Carter came in looking very freaked out, but wouldn't tell anyone exactly why. He did mention that Apophis was trying to escape, which rather killed whatever good mood everyone had. He refused to provide any more details, but that was enough to inhibit conversation. By the time Sadie came in, nobody was eating. Instead of staring at each other, as they had been, they began to stare at her, waiting for more information since Carter refused to give it.

"Morning," she muttered. "Penguin in the fireplace, if anyone's interested."

"Sadie," Amos told her, "tell everyone what you told me."

So, between sips of her drink, she launched into telling about her dream. Obviously still shaken by what she had seen, she described her visit to the Hall of Ages and the conversation between Desjardins and Vladimir she had witnessed. Upon hearing Vlad planned to attack, Machaela and Jesse started planning defensive strategies.

When she finished, the only sounds were the fire and Philip.

The first to find his words was Felix, and he was nervous. "So we're all going to die, then?" he asked.

"No." Amos leaned forward in his seat. "Absolutely not. Children, I know I've just arrived. I've hardly met most of you, but I promise we'll do everything we can to keep you safe. This house is layered with magic protection." He gestured to Bast, who was opening a can of Fancy Feast with her fingernails. "You have a major goddess on your side and the Kane family to protect you. Carter and Sadie are more powerful than you might realize, and I've battled Michel Desjardins before, if it comes to that."

Machaela and Jesse looked a bit dubious, but kept quiet, content to plan defense strategies for protecting the house. There was the roof, the terrace, and the east wall…

"If it comes to that?" Alyssa asked. "It sounds pretty certain they'll attack us."

Others around the table nodded in agreement, turning to Amos for his answer. Even though they didn't know him, as the only adult, his opinion automatically carried weight.

"Perhaps," Amos answered, scrunching his brow, "but it troubles me that Desjardins would agree to such a foolish move. Apophis is the real enemy, and Desjardins knows it. He should realize he needs all the help he can get. Unless…" His voice trailed off, and he didn't finish. Whatever he was thinking, it wasn't pleasant. "At any rate," he continued, "if Desjardins decides to come after us, he will plan carefully. He knows this mansion will not fall easily. He can't afford to be embarrassed by the Kane family again. He'll study the problem, consider his options, and gather his forces. It would take several days for him to prepare—time he should be using to stop Apophis."

Walt raised his index finger, his natural gravity calling all attention to him. Even Khufu, the resident baboon that only ate things ending in _–o_ , looked up from his grapes suspended in Jell-O. (Jell-O was apparently magical, possibly due to the capital O. Khufu would eat anything suspended in Jell-O.) "If Desjardins _does_ attack us, he'll be well prepared, with magicians who are a lot more experienced than we are. Can he get through our defenses?"

All eyes turned to Amos, many remembering the last time the defenses had been breached, last December. It hadn't been good. Two longnecks had attacked the house, killing Philip and opening the path for Set's carriers to chase Sadie, Carter, and Bast through Brooklyn and Manhattan. They had only barely escaped, and Bast had been sent back to the Duat for a short time.

"We must make sure it doesn't come to that," he replied. "Desjardins knows what we're attempting, and that we only have five days—well, four days, now. According to Sadie's vision, Desjardins is aware of our plan and will try to prevent it out of some misguided belief that we are working for the forces of Chaos. But if we succeed, we'll have bargaining power to make Desjardins back off."

Cleo raised her hand, like she was in school. "Um…We don't know the plan. Four days to do what?"

At this, Machaela and Jesse knew questions and surprises would be thrown around the table as the rest of the trainees were clued in on the plan. Deciding they didn't need to hear that, they stepped out, heading to their rooms.

"Plan?" Machaela asked as they crossed the hallway.

"Of course."

Hurrying into Machaela's room, Jesse started looking around. "We have a lot more magic snipers than combat-ready trainees. Do you still keep that box you had in Egypt?"

Machaela snapped her fingers, as if he had reminded her of something. She quickly turned to her bed, from under which she pulled a large case. Plopping it onto her bed, Jesse barely had time to read "Emergency Defense" on the cover before she opened it to reveal magic supplies.

"Is this the one you're talking about?" she asked.

He nodded, looking into the box. Hundreds of pieces of wax formed into shabtis, an extra _kopis_ , a _khopesh_ , and two spare magic kits lay inside, but she moved all those aside to reveal a scroll down in the bottom.

"I put this in here, too," she told him. "For safe-keeping. It's a shabti spell I hadn't heard of, meant for a larger collection of shabtis. We didn't have a use for it, but we will. Check this out."

She gently took it out of the box, remembering Iskandar giving it to them, among other things, the night he had died. She couldn't believe it had been three months already, but she pushed the thought aside for now.

"Here," Machaela said, opening it. "This is the shabti spell." She pointed to the writing on the scroll. "Amos will want to see this."

But Jesse had noticed something. Taking the scroll from his sister, he shook his head. "This isn't for shabtis," he told her. "This is for summoning weapons."

"What are you talking about?" she said. "It was a shabti spell a moment ago." She took it back. "You're right. It's a summon—wait. Woah!" She held it where Jesse could see it too, and they watched as the writing shimmered and changed, now showing an elemental spell.

"No way!" Machaela exclaimed. "He gave us an Omniscroll!"

"A what, now?" Jesse asked, still watching the scroll as the spell changed once again.

"An Omniscroll," Machaela repeated. "I can't believe I didn't notice it before!" Jesse just looked at her, not knowing the term. "An Omniscroll is a spell book that has a copy of every spell in writing anywhere in the world. It's a very hard spell, and very rare."

"Wow," Jesse told her, looking back at the scroll. "No wonder he wanted us to be careful with it."

They looked at each other, then, without words, put the scroll back in the case. A scroll that rare needed to stay hidden. They decided to wait until they knew more about what was going to happen. For now, they would simply keep their classes going.

 **Helloooo, readers! here's the newest chapter, and i'd love to know your thoughts on it. RL has been hectic, but if there's still interest, i'm gonna try to get back to my weekly updates. thoughts?**


	30. Chapter 30

Dinner that evening was even harder than breakfast. Bast had left to check on Apophis' prison and wouldn't be back for several days, making Amos the only adult left. With Amos' announcement that Carter had left for London because Sadie was under attack, everyone knew an attack on the house was definitely going to come. Remembering how crazy Vlad had been the few times they had met him, Machaela and Jesse knew he would probably plan his attack to coincide with when Carter and Sadie woke Ra, which, according to Amos, was the morning of the equinox. At maximum, they had three days before Vlad's forces appeared at their door, because he would want the house under his control by the time Apophis and Ra woke.

Knowing they needed to do it now, they went to the library after dinner.

"Amos?" Machaela called as they entered. They may not trust him yet, but he was the only adult, and Carter and Sadie had left him in charge.

"Yes?" he answered from his desk.

They walked over and sat down. "Carter said you would be over the defense of the house should Desjardins attack," Machaela started.

"Indeed. We have many protective spells in place. You needn't worry."

"We're not worried," Jesse answered. "This isn't our first battle. We just wanted to know what we could expect and when."

Amos eyed them, but didn't reply.

"Did Carter and Sadie tell you about each of us?" Machaela asked, noticing his look.

"No," he answered. "There has not been time."

"My sister and I are not new to magic," Jesse told him. "We lived in the First Nome for nearly eight years, and Iskandar raised us for nearly ten."

"We propose," Machaela took over, leaning forward in her seat, "that you work on the spells defending the building, since you know them best, while we lead the trainees in preparing."

Amos raised an eyebrow. "Do you have the skill to teach the others?"

They smirked. Jesse pulled out a daily schedule, proving they were already teaching classes every day. Machaela then used a summoning spell to bring up a viewing window showing their first Whatever Works class. Once they proved they were telling the truth, Amos was much more willing to work out a strategy.

He would be strengthening the wards around the house, while they would take over teaching everyone. Their Basic Magic class just became Basic Battle Strategies 101, and they decided it would be best to divide the trainees by offense type. Jesse would run drills with the others with a _kopis_ or _khopesh_ , while Machaela would lead the rest in strategies for magic sniping.

* * *

The evening of the twentieth, Machaela and Jesse were polishing off strategies when they heard a portal open on the roof. Fearing the House of Life was actually dumb enough to portal in their attack force, the siblings bolted for the roof, _kopis_ and staff in hand.

Bast, who had returned just a few hours before, Julian, and Alyssa met them on the stairs, and they all reached the roof just in time for Machaela to recognize who had portalled in.

"Zia?!" The name held several layers of worry and nervousness. Had Zia come on orders of the House? Would they be forced to fight their friend to protect their home? Admittedly, they weren't _that_ close, but they _had_ grown up together.

Zia spun around to see them as a second person landed from the portal.

"Easy, there," Walt said, noticing Machaela and Jesse's expressions, along with everyone's raised weapons. "Zia's come to help us, not attack us."

At Zia's nod of agreement, they all relaxed. Glancing toward the setting sun, Machaela turned to the others.

"Alyssa, Julian, battle positions. Get the youngest at the east wall, magic snipers up here, and combat magicians with Bast on the terrace. Jesse will join the others on the terrace in a moment. Vlad's crazies will attack any minute."

As the others scurried around, Machaela and Jesse turned to Zia, who had been quietly watching.

"Your fire magic fits the roof best," Jesse told her.

She nodded, then found her words. "Is it true? About Iskandar?"

The siblings' expressions changed, and they exchanged a glance. Machaela gently put her hand on Zia's shoulder. "Yes," she said quietly. "It's true. He died the day after Christmas."

Zia's face crumbled and she put her face in her hands. Stepping close to her, the siblings each put a hand on her shoulder.

After giving her a moment, Machaela spoke. "I know it's hard," she said. "Oh, how I know it's hard. We're the ones who found him. But the last thing Iskandar talked to us about was telling us to help the Kanes. He believed in reviving the gods, and Jesse and I are following his last wish. I firmly believe that he would have told you the same thing, had you been there. If you want, we can talk all this out later, but right now, we must fight for what we believe in. Vlad is sending an army of rogue magicians, and they mean to destroy us."

When Zia lowered her hands, her eyes were red, but her cheeks were dry. She nodded. "Carter and Sadie caught me up." Raised voices lifted from downstairs, and she turned around to find several House magicians levitating to the roof. Her gaze steeled. "We'll talk later."

The last thing they saw was Zia's furious expression as she stood between the attacking magicians and the other rooftop trainees, sending a column of fire at the closest magicians in defense of an attack with which they had opened.

Downstairs, the siblings found Bast wading through shabtis on the terrace.

"Use it now," Jesse told her. "Keep our troops fresh."

With a nod, Machaela called a command word, and suddenly the house resounded with the boom, boom, boom of footsteps. A moment later, some thirty shabtis marched out of the house and threw themselves into battle, giving Bast a reprieve.

Bast joined them at the doorway. "Where did those come from?" she asked, panting slightly as she watched Machaela's shabtis fight the attacking shabtis.

Machaela gestured to the main room, where many more miniature shabtis lay waiting. "My specialty is shabtis," she reminded Bast, "and this isn't our first battle. We always keep emergency defense supplies on hand."

"Which is good," Jesse added after a pause, watching the last of the shabtis crumble, "because we have more magic snipers than combat magicians."

Bast nodded, but didn't reply, for right then Kwai floated up to the terrace.

 **Is anyone still reading?**


	31. Chapter 31

"We'll talk later."

Turning away from the siblings as Machaela followed her brother off the roof, Zia eyed the few magicians the attack squad had sent up to take the roof. She opened her mouth, intending to try to talk them down. When Iskandar was alive, she had carried some weight with other magicians, but that all went down the drain.

Before she could form her words, the magician in front of the group sent a steady stream of fire straight at her.

"Aza," she growled. She remembered this clown. Aza had nearly destroyed a whole island when she decided to "practice" her magic in the middle of a drought. The ensuing inferno displaced nearly two thousand people and killed almost a hundred. Blocking the attack with her own, hotter fire, she continued, "Have you really sunk so low as to side with Apophis?"

"With Apophis?" she displayed a horrified expression, though Zia saw right through it. "These _children_ have brainwashed you. I'm stopping _you_ from releasing Apophis."

Zia laughed, easily blocking another of Aza's attacks. Even before Aza's banishment, Zia had always been the better magician. Her bond with fire had been stronger, and privately Zia had always wondered if Aza's jealousy had caused the fire that got her banished. Zia _had_ been just a few buildings away at the time.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed the other attackers battling Alyssa and Walt, but stayed focused on Aza. "I can still see right through you," she taunted. "You perform lip service to the House, but that incident years ago showed your true colors." Zia spun her staff, blocking Aza's increasingly frustrated attacks. "It's really no wonder you answered Vlad's call. You want to see the House destroyed just as much as he does." Zia sent her own stream of fire, getting one last jibe before it hit. "News flash: you won't win." Her fire easily broke through Aza's, sending the attacking magician flying off the roof.

Zia turned to the others attacking, debating on whether to try to talk them down, but one glance said it wouldn't be worth it. Carter was right. These were the worst of the House. Nothing she said would make any difference. So she simply joined the fight, and they routed the attackers easily. The attackers had obviously been expecting a bunch of untrained kids, but Alyssa, Sean, and Walt were good magicians.

The small attack force withdrew, probably to go back and get more troops. Four magicians would definitely not take the house, especially not with one of them being weak, jealous Aza.

* * *

"Hello." Ignoring the pieces of clay strewn about the terrace, Kwai gave them the creepiest smile. Jesse had to wonder how long he had had to practice it in the mirror.

Machaela looked at him curiously. "What are you standing on?" She recognized him alright, though she much preferred to forget about…that.

"Why, don't you remember, Machaela?"

She suppressed a shiver at the way he had tasted her name, rolling it over his tongue and between his teeth before letting it escape his mouth. Memories bubbled up, unbidden.

"Air is no different than water, really," he continued, obviously enjoying her discomfort. "Both are fluids, and surely you remember my love of water."

His silky tone washed over her, bubbling up memories of fear. Of anger. Of being unclean. She suppressed another shiver at the remembered filth she couldn't wash off. Kwai's water was filthy, polluted, nothing like the pure, clean water she remembered finding in the Rocky Mountains when she was small. The thought of the mountains briefly brought her out of her daze, just in time for her to actually catch his final words.

"I told you anyone could learn to stand on air. I even promised to teach you, for a price."

Machaela shivered, eyes slightly glassy as she remembered Kwai managing to catch her alone. Iskandar had saved her, but not before the terror had set in. She had never told Jesse, not wanting to relive the fear in the retelling.

Watching his sister's expression, and seeing the longing on Kwai's face, Jesse's face turned red as he realized what this creep had tried to do to his sister. Unconsciously using Horus' protective rage, Jesse's fist quickly sported an avatar. Before Kwai could blink, Jesse had punched him with everything he had. The avatar-strengthened punch shot Kwai off his column of air and down into the river, where he landed with an impressive splash.

Machaela blinked at him, the momentary daze she had been in vanishing. She opened her mouth to thank him, but Kwai started cursing them, the cussing kind, not the magic kind, loud enough to carry from all the way down there.

"I think he needs a Word," Jesse said.

With a smirk, Machaela muttered a Divine Word, and a waterspout formed around the floating mage. His cussing was soon mixed with the glug, glug, glug of his attempt at swimming back to shore.

Jesse turned to look at his sister. "When did he attack you?" he asked fiercely, protectively.

Terror crossed Machaela's face before she managed to push it away. "Right before you started coming with me on missions," she answered, her face reddening. "I—don't want to talk about it. Iskandar saved me before it went very far, but it was still terrifying."

He stared at her. "Tell me next time alright? Something, anything. You might be older but _no one_ touches my sister!"

She cast him a grateful smile as down below Kwai finally reached the shore, cussing up a storm.

Jesse stared at the sopping wet figure, still furious and struggling with a decision. Machaela saw the moment he threw caution to the wind, but before she could do anything, he spoke a spell she didn't know he knew.

Hieroglyphs burned in the air as he sealed his spell with a command word: " _Heh-sieh,_ " _turn back,_ and Kwai flew through the air and back into the still swirling whirlpool. Once again, his cussing was cut off by the glug, glug, glug of him trying to escape the river, and this time he wasn't getting out so quickly.

* * *

Several hours later, Machaela finally made it to the roof. She had intended to stay up there for most of the battle, being better at magic sniping than combat, but her shabtis had been needed downstairs to repel the shabtis sent by the attack team while Kwai fought to escape the river.

Now, though, Jesse knew how to command the remaining half of her shabti army, should he need to, and she was on the roof.

She flung another spell at an attacking mage, actually enjoying the battle for now. One of Walt's amulets was helping Freak keep the fire snakes—uraei—away, and she could focus on battling the magicians crazy, or maybe just desperate, enough to follow Vlad.

Someone new joined her battle, throwing attacks as if they had something to prove.

"Nen?!" She blocked the attacks, surprised they came from someone else she actually recognized in a good way. "What in the world are _you_ doing here?!"

It took a moment, but finally recognition clicked. "Machaela?" she asked, suddenly looking slightly ashamed. Her attack ferocity waned slightly. The moment passed, though, and Machaela's old acquaintance steeled her expression and revamped her attacks.

"Why are you here?" Machaela asked again, keeping the battle at an impasse for the moment. "Shouldn't you be in Italy?"

Nen tried to sneer. "Shows how much you keep up with current events. I've been in Antarctica for years."

"Antarctica!" Machaela looked stunned, and Nen used the moment to break away and try a new attack. Machaela snapped out of it, bringing them back to a stalemate. "Why?"

Nen's fierce expression broke, showing worry and shame again. "I made a mistake, but they didn't believe me. Desjardins claimed I did it on purpose, and convinced Iskandar."

"Then why are you here?" Machaela was reeling. She and Nen had been decent friends during much of Machaela's time training under Iskandar. She had always seen the older girl as someone she could count on, even though they weren't that close. When Nen aged out, she had requested Italy, and the last Machaela had heard was that Nen was doing well there, working on her element of water.

"You know me. I hate being cold," Nen lowered her voice, ensuring her fellow attackers couldn't hear her. "I joined before we even knew what was going on. Once I figured it out, I lingered at the edges looking for an escape, but it was too late. The other twelve always had someone watching me."

"Then don't take part in the battle," Machaela urged, still easily blocking Nen's now weaker attacks.

Nen looked hopeful for a moment, but she pushed it away. "It's too late," she cut off Machaela's further urging. She attacked again, clearly refusing to listen to Machaela. She was here, whether she wanted to be or not, and nothing could change that now. The others would tear her apart if they detected her reluctance.

Hoping her old friend was telling the truth, Machaela made her decision and waited for her moment. One of Nen's favorite attacks was a wave, an attack she shared with her trainer, Liz. Once Nen fell back on her predicable attack, Machaela activated a spell that took over the water.

Nen's wave against Machaela turned on its maker, catching her up. It carried her off the roof and plopped her back on the ground on the opposite side of the building as the rest of the attackers.

Hoping Nen would take the opportunity, Machaela turned to the rest of the battle. Zia was dueling with another fire mage, but it seemed more like a half-hearted spar on Zia's end, and Walt was helping Alyssa against another pair of attackers.

Disbelieving, Machaela looked around the roof again. Yes, there were really only three people up there. She checked her watch. Well after midnight, the attackers should be getting anxious by now. In less than six hours, either the king of the gods was coming to smite them, or their big, scary boss was on the way who would find their inability to take a house full of children anything but amusing. Something wasn't adding up. By the sound of things, much of the same thing was happening on the terrace. She heard occasional metal-on-metal, but mostly she heard breaking shabtis. Why weren't they sending more people in to overwhelm the defense?

Deciding she wasn't needed at the moment, she signaled her intentions to Zia, then headed back downstairs. She needed to confirm this with her brother.

 **a big thank you to bandcrazy01 for your review. here's a new chapter now that i know at least one person is still reading and enjoying!**

 **don't forget to review! :)**


	32. Chapter 32

He would later deny it, but Jesse was tired. Tired of fighting, tired of magic, and tired of swinging this sword. This is not to say he lacked endurance. No, he was fine on that front, but he was annoyed that their supposed-to-be allies had attacked. The House was still spiraling in a chaotic mess, but if they succeeded tonight, maybe that spiral would start to straighten.

Stabbing a shabti, he tried to figure out how long they had left. His watch had broken in a scuffle, but he thought it was a couple hours after midnight. He was still on the terrace with Bast and Julian, but right now, the only attackers were shabti. When this wave had come in, he had tried to activate their shabti army to give the rest of them a break, but it hadn't worked. He never had been as good with shabtis as his sister. After his attempt at activating his sister's shabtis failed, he had tried to form an avatar. That would have been nice. The avatar would have smashed several shabtis in a few seconds. He managed about eighty percent of an avatar, his largest yet. But he couldn't hold it for long.

His magic already low, he simply didn't have the reserves for an avatar, even for only a few seconds. His only attempt had held but a moment before he fell back to earth. He had quite a bit of magic reserves left, but an avatar demanded too much. He decided to stick with his sword. He was hungry and tired, yes, but that didn't matter. He could still do this all night. He hoped.

He stuck a shabti in the rear, enjoying the posture change the decently-made shabti went through before it crumbled.

Changing clay attackers, he glanced over at Julian. Similar in age, he and Julian had opposite fighting methods. Jesse had always used a _kopis_ , but Julian fought with twin _khopeshes_ , which Jesse found rather cool. Julian showed potential as a swordsman and certainly fought well in his battle.

Glancing over at Bast, Jesse had to shake his head. He was outpacing Julian in endurance, but Bast was far outpacing them both. The cat even seemed to still be having fun, he noted with a chuckle, watching her play with the most recent shabti before she smashed it.

He turned his focus back to his own battle as another thought struck him. Where were the other magicians?

The thought nearly cost him, as the obviousness pulled him up short, giving the shabti an opening. Snapping out of it, Jesse blocked as he followed that train of thought.

Where _were_ the other magicians? He should have wondered that ages ago. The attackers had started the night with fodder, then moved into the magicians and a few demons. More fodder had come after Kwai, but that had quickly changed back to a mixture with magicians and demons. But at some point the magicians had disappeared.

He pondered this for several minutes as he fought clay warriors before he felt a presence next to him. He spun around, thinking a shabti had gotten past him, but he needn't have worried.

"Easy there!" Machaela ducked Jesse's defensive position. "It's just me!"

Looking a bit sheepish, Jesse turned back to the dwindling shabtis. "Sorry," he told her. "You startled me."

"Should've announced myself," she replied. "Listen, doesn't it seem weird the magicians are gone?"

"Yeah! I was just thinking that." The siblings tag-teamed a shabti, playing with it a bit before killing it. "It's poor tactics," Jesse continued. "It's not that long until dawn."

"Less than six hours," she confirmed, blocking a shabti's strike with her staff.

"There's only one thing I can figure," Jesse said, the attacking shabtis almost completely defeated.

"What?" Machaela asked when he didn't continue, focused on his block and attack on their current shabti.

A large BOOM cut off his reply as the entire building shook. Jesse's eyes got wide.

"That!" he yelled. "Bast, you got this?!"

She nodded. "Go!"

"Come on Julian!" Grabbing his sister, Jesse led the charge back into the building, where, sure enough, the east wall had been breached.

Utter mayhem greeted them. The no-longer-missing attacking magicians had finally broken through their uber-defensive wall. Considering every known defensive spell had been there, that had to have been what they were working on, and now they were facing the youngest trainees of Brooklyn House.

Jesse shouldn't have worried as much, though. The young magicians carried themselves just fine. The attackers had, yet again, obviously assumed they would find children unable to defend themselves. As such, watching the utter surprise ripple through the ranks in response to the trainees' battle prowess was quite entertaining. The youngest trainees had been waiting all night and itching for battle. With so many young magicians throwing everything they had, the attackers were repelled in no time, and Alyssa started patching the wall back together with her path-of-Geb magic and a bit of help from Amos.

With that attack defeated, Machaela looked around the roof. "Is everyone alright?" she asked. "No injuries?"

She looked around to find everyone shaking their heads. Relaxing somewhat that no one was seriously hurt, she turned to find Jesse before heading back upstairs.

"Felix! Look out!"

It was Jesse that had cried out, but he was looking behind her.

Machaela's attention snapped around to see an enemy magician charging straight for Felix, weapon in hand. One look at the magician's face showed his intention: he was deadly serious.

Time slowed down. Jesse started to run towards Felix, _kopis_ in hand, but he was too far away. He would never make it to Felix before the attacker did.

Felix spun around, trying to defend himself, but he only had a staff. The enemy magician had a knife, and there wasn't enough room for Felix to defend with a spell.

Felix was too far from the group. Nobody was close enough to help.

She reacted instinctively, only thinking about saving Felix. " _Totsh thorme!_ " _Repel attack!_

Time sped back up. Hieroglyphs burned in front of her, catching the attacking mage into the air and sending him on a Duat trip straight through the east wall and back to his own troops.

All around her, jaws dropped.

"You're a natural with Divine Words!" Alyssa finally voiced. "That's super rare."

The others continued staring.

Her actions caught up with her, leaving her sad but resigned. Under Iskandar's suggestion, she had kept that ability hidden since she found out about it at nine years old; she had just lost another tie to Iskandar. She sighed quietly, pushing the memory away. At least there was no danger in revealing it anymore.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" a new voice asks.

Machaela spun around to find Bast behind her, standing in the doorway to the terrace with her arms crossed. She shrugged and, steadying her voice, forced out an answer, "In Egypt, knowing Divine Words was a potential indicator of being a godling, even though that's impossible for Jesse and I, and the one time we were accused of that was bad enough."

"Impossible?" one of the trainees cut in. "But you're Blood of the Pharaohs."

Any answer she may have given was cut short as enemy shabtis and magicians appeared on the terrace. Something exploded on the roof.

"I'll tell you later," Machaela answered hurriedly, "if you still want to know." Leaving the trainees behind and telling Jesse to be careful, Machaela bolted back upstairs to help.

 _Three more hours,_ Machaela repeated to herself, like a mantra. Or a prayer. _Lord, help us last three more hours._

With the rest of the trainees in the know about her affinity for Divine Words, she had let the rooftop team in on it too. Zia, of course, had been shocked, but there had been no time to bicker over it. Magicians and demons had converged on the roof.

In Machaela's experience, demons were annoying but easy to vanquish. Not these demons, though. These demons were annoyingly crafty. Every time she tried to fling a Divine Word at them, the demon would duck behind a nearby magician, and most of the anti-demon spells didn't work on people. She and the other defenders were finding it difficult to gain the upper hand, but at least they weren't giving ground. The attackers had been pushed back to the edge, where they were using the rooftop units as cover.

With the current team resorting to sniping from behind the air conditioning units, and the demons retreating for the moment, another attacking magician landed on the roof. Maybe he was hoping to turn the tide. Maybe he was trying to encourage his allies. Maybe he was just bored down below. Machaela wasn't sure. Whatever the case, she recognized him, and she wasn't happy.

"Yo, Fartima!" she called out her favorite "derivative" of his name, gaining his attention. "I thought you were still crying in your hole after Benin called you out!"

He growled at her. "It's Fatim, you insufferable girl! And—"

"Fatim?" she cut him off, laughing even in her anger at the memory. This sorry excuse for a magician had let his jealousy and pride prompt him to attack an eleven-year-old boy, solely because the boy, who happened to be Machaela's brother, was already a better swordsman. "So you're a fat old fart with a girl's name instead of a gaseous boy with a girl's name?"

Oh, he didn't like that. Machaela easily blocked his attacks, though, taunting him further. "Your parents must have been pretty sad when you were born, since they wanted a girl so much."

He sent a flurry of attacks at her, pausing her taunting as she focused on blocking the sheer number. "Silence!" he yelled.

Machaela nearly laughed again at that. With this character, her choices were laugh at him, or be ticked at him. She preferred laughing.

"You should respect your elders, child!" he continued.

She _did_ laugh at that, and her guffaws irritated him more than any well-worded response would have. The very idea that she would respect _anyone_ , much less _him_ , just because they had been alive longer…She kept laughing as she blocked more attacks. Respect was always earned, not given, no matter how old you are.

"You may as well go back to your igloo, Fartima," she told him, barely focusing on his weak attacks. He was a better swordsman than magician, though neither skill was very good. Vlad had apparently picked most of his attackers by character, not skill. She focused on saving her magic and simply kept him busy, for now. "You're never taking this house."

"Oh?" he asked, his tone condescending, as if speaking to a young child who was being rather silly. "So this is where you disappeared to when you betrayed the House?" She laughed again, amused at his ramblings. She didn't care what he thought. Seeing this, he changed topics. "And where is your brother? Surely, he should be helping in the battle? Or did he turn tail and hide?"

Her laughter stopped, and her next attack pushed him back several steps. He wasn't worthy to even _mention_ her brother.

"Oh, sensitive, are we?" His voice got more mocking by the second, ignoring how she focused on reigning in her temper. "You should tell my pet I've missed him."

"He's not your pet, you abusive pervert. And you'll never touch him! Do you think I've forgotten what got you banished?!"

She threw several attacks at him that he had trouble blocking, all the while remembering the incident. This pervert, after watching several of Jesse's training sessions with Benin, had decided that Jesse was much too skilled and needed to disappear. The kidnapping attempt had left Jesse with several injuries and quite a few nightmares. With her and Benin as witnesses—they had been the ones to jump in and stop the attempt—Fatty, here had been sentenced to the bitter cold of the South Pole.

"But I so looked forward to seeing him again!"

That phrase was his downfall. Machaela, who had up to that point been trying to reign in her temper, reached her breaking point. Her anger spike and, with it, so did her magic. Fatim barely had the chance to be wary of the glow coming from Machaela before she opened her mouth.

" _Stahp!_ "

He screamed in pain as the glowing glyph severed his non-dominant hand. Watching him futilely trying to stem the bleeding, Machaela called out another phrase, using her anger to power her magic. The wound magically cauterized just as Fatim was catapulted off the roof.

" _Nobody_ touches my brother!" she growled, noticing Fatim barely managing to catch himself before splatting on the pavement below.

She turned to the rest of the rooftop battle scene, her anger still burning brightly. Thankful that each Divine Word used very little of her magic reserves, she decided she had had _enough_ of this particular attack. A few well-placed spells and more than a few Divine Words sent the attack team withdrawing off the roof completely, many of them glancing warily at the glowing young woman.

Zia, her attacker having fled the roof, turned around to find the cause. "What happened to you?" she asked cautiously. The last time Machaela had been angry enough to glow, the results hadn't been pretty.

Machaela was so ticked off she had to stop herself from growling at her friend. "Fartima is now missing a hand," she confided.

Zia's eyes widened. "He was here?!" Machaela nodded, trying to calm her anger down. Zia came closer. "No wonder you're ticked. He probably opened his big mouth again."

Watching Machaela calm down, Zia remembered the incident with Fatim. She had been nearby when Iskandar had confided in Sofia some of the things kept from Machaela. According to Iskandar, Fatim's attempt on Jesse wasn't the first attempted kidnapping charge. Wanting to be the best without working for it, Fatim had decided that, instead of bettering himself, he would get rid of anyone that could show him up. Other promising young magicians had been attacked by him as well, but he apparently had no remorse for his actions. Extremely prideful, several had heard Fatim boasting about "exterminating dangerous" young initiates. With his boastful admission of guilt, the trial was easy, and Fatim had been shipped off to Antarctica.

When Machaela finally calmed some, she made a decision. "Signal if you guys get attacked again. I'm going to run downstairs for a minute."

Zia eyed her, correctly guessing she was still shaken by Fatim and needed to see for herself that Jesse was unhurt. "Okay," she answered, "but hurry. If they up their attack we'll need you back up here."

Machaela bounced down the stairs, inventorying her magic. Her anger-fueled attack had lowered her reserves quite a bit. She would have to be sparing with her magic, even with her Divine Words, if she wanted to last until dawn.

There was a reprieve downstairs as well, and she quickly found Jesse raiding the fridge. Just clapping her eyes on him helped her finish calming down, and Jesse noticed nothing amiss when he spotted her next to him.

"Hey, Sis. They retreated upstairs, too?"

She nodded, updating him and the surrounding initiates on the rooftop battle as Della ran upstairs with quick-energy snacks. She left out Fatim, though, deciding he didn't need to know about that part. He, in turn, updated her, describing the general battle on the terrace.

As he finished, magicians landed on the terrace outside, along with a large collection of shabtis. Jesse hurried out to help Bast, but Machaela, seeing how many shabtis were there, activated the last of her shabti army to meet them. They would allow her brother and friends focus on the magicians.

As soon as her shabtis entered the battle, she hurried back upstairs. Most of the army on the terrace was shabtis, so she thought the rest of the magicians would be on the roof, and her friends would need help.

She was wrong.

Upstairs, she found Zia, Walt, and Alyssa battling two magicians and five demons. They needed no help, and she just had time to look over the roof's edge in search of the remaining attackers when her question was answered.

BOOM! Rocks and debris flew from the east side of the building, landing in the courtyard below. They had breached the east wall. Again.

Machaela arrived in the Great Room to a battle scene. Julian was helping several of the youngest trainees fight off the magicians. Jesse was battling another _kopis_ -wielding mage, and the oldest of the indoor group were having a blast at once again being about to take part in the battle. Machaela jumped in and started beating the attackers, literally. Her staff made a very good club.

With most of the indoor group still fresh, the battle was over relatively quickly. Soon enough, the attack squad had been pushed back where they belonged, and, with Alyssa still on the roof, Machaela used her last Divine Word of the night to seal the wall.

She turned away from the magically knitting wall to check everyone. One after another, the other trainees each indicated they were uninjured, and she grinned. They had over an hour left, and, while magic reserves were dangerously low, everyone was at least whole.

Then she heard a small grunt.

She spun around so fast she made herself dizzy. She knew that noise, and she _didn't want to hear that noise_.

Jesse stood against a wall with his back to everyone else, obviously trying to hide an injury.

She was at his side in an instant. "What's going on?" she asked, then gasped as he turned around. Her little brother had a knife stuck through his right shoulder, and he was trying to pull it out.

"Oh, no you don't!" Blocking his hand from making another grab at the knife, she lowered him to the ground. He tried to protest, but she would have none of it.

"I'm fine!" he insisted, yet again.

She snorted, taking the first aid kit from Julian. "You have a knife sticking out of your shoulder. You're not fine." He opened his mouth, probably thinking she would take him out of the fight, but she cut him off. "Hold _still_. If you don't let me treat it now, you can wait out the rest of the night in the infirmary. Would you rather that?" He shook his head mutely, and she allowed a smirk. "Thought so."

As the others looked on, she carefully took the knife out, quickly covering the wound with several layers of gauze. He winced, but the wound wasn't life threatening; it was more of an annoyance than anything.

"What happened?" she asked.

He pulled a face. "Parting shot. I ducked just in time. He nearly got me in the chest."

"Shouldn't he go to a hospital for that?" Bryan asked when Machaela didn't answer, still holding pressure.

"Probably," she agreed, "but this isn't the first time we've gotten hurt in battle." She dug through her kit with her free hand. "I usually have a healing potion, but I think I used…Aha!" She pulled a corked tube from her magic kit, and immediately frowned. There was barely a sip left in the bottom.

"Crap," she muttered, setting it aside and digging through her bag yet again. Finally admitting defeat, she sighed. "Okay," she told her brother, still holding pressure on his shoulder since he couldn't do it himself, "here's the deal. You can't fight right now." He tried to protest, but she raised a finger. "Uh-uh. You cannot fight with a torso wound. Remember our rule?"

He grumbled under his breath. He remembered that rule, alright, and now he was regretting agreeing to it. At the time, it had been Machaela trying to fight while wounded. It was perfectly fine for him to fight with an injury, but not for her. She disagreed.

"I'll make you a deal," she continued, holding up her bit of potion. "If this heals you enough to not need a bandage, meaning you are not bleeding, you can fight. If not, you're sitting the rest of the night out without complaint. Deal?"

He grumbled a bit under his breath, but agreed. Handing him the vial, she turned to the gathered trainees. "Bast is under attack on the terrace," she pointed out. "Julian?"

"On it," he answered, heading back out, Amos right behind him.

"Everyone else," Machaela continued. "Good job. You're doing great. We have just over an hour and a half left. Grab some snacks and be on guard. They're getting desperate."

As the crowd dispersed, she turned back to her brother, who was trying to look at his shoulder. Chuckling at him despite the situation, she knelt down and moved the gauze she had placed over his wound.

"It's scabbed," she said with a sigh, "but only barely. You will be careful, and if that shows any sign of opening, you will remove yourself from the battle. Understood?" He nodded begrudgingly. They both knew that if he tried to fight too wounded, she would never let him forget it, and next time _she_ got hurt she would refuse to listen to his admonishments to take it easy.

Mussing his hair in farewell, she told him to be careful and forced herself to get back to the roof. They still hated being separated, but even with her magic low, she was still better at sniping than combat. She definitely didn't like that she had to leave him to fight wounded, but this was battle, and at least he wasn't alone.

Arriving at the rooftop to magicians and demons against Zia, Walt, and Alyssa, she threw herself into the scuffle, using her staff more as a club than a magic implement. Hey, whatever works.

 **thanks to bandcrazy01 for your review of last chapter. I'm glad you're enjoying the story so much**

 **everyone, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. don't forget to review!**


	33. Chapter 33

Jesse hurried out onto the terrace, ignoring the flashes of pain rippling through his shoulder. The stab wound interfered with every bit of motion, and fighting would definitely be a challenge. He wouldn't give up, though. There was no way he would sit out the battle if he was able to walk.

Throwing himself into the battle, he easily fought off the shabti he encountered first. Turning to the magician behind it, he allowed a grin. The attacking mage was obviously taken aback by the amount of blood on Jesse's shirt, and Jesse took full advantage of the magician's hesitation. Avoiding reinjuring his shoulder, a few complex sword moves still let Jesse quickly send the magician to the edge of the terrace. Minutes later, the magician's choices were jump to the ground or fall into the pool. Eyeing Philip swimming in the pool, he chose to jump, leaving Jesse searching for another target.

Two magicians were tag-teaming Julian, and Jesse jumped in, distracting one.

The battle continued.

* * *

Jesse was pooped. His injury, on top of fighting all night, left him wanting to lay down and sleep. Only the idea that it was nearly dawn kept him going. It was a testament to the attacking magicians' lack of skill that he was still able to stand toe-to-toe when he was this tired, especially since they had been switching out attackers in an attempt at staying fresh, while Jesse's team hadn't.

Bast's double take at his blood-covered shirt was the only highlight of the next however long they had fought. It became one painful fight after the next, and his mind entered autopilot. How many magicians had he sent back off the terrace? How many times had he been forced to change attack methods because of his painful shoulder? Could they even last until sunup? He had no idea.

It seemed like forever had passed when he noticed the sky finally start to lighten. He had never been awake and above ground to watch the sunrise, and, even without his relief that the battle was nearly over, he had to admit it was awesome. Most of the magicians had disappeared yet again from the terrace, and the three of them were holding their own against several stronger-than-normal demons (which only meant they could hold their own instead of being fodder) and a couple magicians. With how tired he was, his main goal was to occupy the magician, not defeat him, so he kept turning his battle so he could face the east.

First, there was just an overall brightness that gradually hid the stars. As the stars blinked out, one by one, he noticed a few clouds hanging low over the horizon starting to glow with light. Then they started changing color. Light pink, bright pink, red, orange, and even purple lit up the morning sky, and Jesse understood why the ancients had thought each dawn wasn't just a new day, but a new world. The colors were amazing, brighter than most of the sunsets he'd seen, and the world looked freshly washed.

It even seemed to give him new strength, and he found himself fighting better and not feeling so tired. The battle became easier as he watched the suns rise over the horizon.

Wait. _Suns?_

He looked again and, sure enough, somehow there were _two suns_ rising from Queens.

He didn't immediately have time to ponder this, though. Noticing his double take at the double sunrise, his opponent tried to take advantage of his distraction. Reacting, Jesse performed a complicated move, simultaneously disarming the magician and knocking him straight into the pool, where Philip was happy to entertain the unhappy magician for a while.

Jesse spun around to look for another opponent, only to realize something very important. That maneuver required a wide shoulder turn. How had he done that?

Ignored by the attackers for the moment, he used his free hand to search for his wound. The scab was gone, and no sign of an injury remained. He suddenly understood the double sunrise, remembering the old legend about injuries sustained in Ma'at's defense being healed each time Ra rose from the Duat.

Carter and Sadie had succeeded.

As the second sun dimmed and grew closer to the roof, Jesse dove back into the battle. The attackers were extremely confused by the landing sun, and he used that to his full advantage. With his strength and magic restored, but his attackers still weary, it was no trouble at all to keep wading through the magicians and demons.

Then a tremor passed through the house.

BOOM!

"Blasted…" Jesse muttered a few uncomplimentary names under his breath. The east wall had been breached for the third time.

"I got this!" Bast yelled at him and Julian from across the dining table. "Get inside!"

Nodding, he and Julian bolted into the mansion. A free-for-all battle had taken over the Great Room, but no one looked like they needed any help, so he jumped in. With his energy restored, he found himself enjoying the battle again.

A shadow moved away from the balcony, and someone landed right next to him.

"Jaz!" A grin split his face. "Glad to see you awake!"

Sending him her sunny grin, Jaz dove into the battle next to him, and it was a complete route.

Where just minutes before they had all been tired and low on magic, now all the Brooklyn House residents felt rejuvenated. Jesse found Machaela next to Alyssa, both throwing spells left and right. Machaela looked relieved at seeing Jesse healed, but they didn't have time to talk. Julian succeeded in his first full combat avatar, which made Jesse proud but slightly jealous at the same time. Jesse's avatar was still around eighty-five percent. Felix ran around summoning penguins and sending a couple attackers into some sort of PTSD. Jesse had to laugh when one formed a circle of protection and huddled inside, all the while screaming, "Not Antarctica again! Anything but that!"

The best moment for Jesse, though, was watching Amos. Standing at the foot of Thoth's statue, he had harnessed storm magic for the first time all night. Summoning lightning and thunder, he blasted enemy magicians, flinging them away in miniature storm clouds. A familiar form tried to charge him from the side, but Amos simply tapped his staff on the tile floor. Fatim sunk up to his shoulders in sand and immediately threw his arms out for balance. Jesse noticed the older magician was now missing a hand and wondered how that had happened, until he glanced at his sister, anyway. The smirk on her face said it all.

Soon enough, all the demons were piles of sand, the shabtis had broken into pieces, and the enemy magicians were in a panic. They had been defeated by a house full of children, sunrise had come and gone, and it was time to _leave._ Wimps. Someone opened a portal, though from what, Jesse had no idea. The only relic _he_ knew of was on the roof.

Suddenly a wave of magic wind and multicolored light swept through the room, knocking enemy magicians off their feet, but leaving Jesse and the others unharmed.

"Listen!" Sadie's voice boomed, and Jesse saw her standing at the edge of the room, her back to the terrace. She must have jumped into the fight as soon as they landed.

Everyone fell silent, probably stunned at her appearance, and Jesse couldn't blame them. For one, she was glowing with magic. For another, she had multicolored wings on either side of her. She looked like a goddess.

"We're not your enemies!" she continued. "I don't care if you like us, but the world has changed. You need to hear what's happened."

As the magic glow faded and her wings vanished, she launched into her trip through the Duat. Ra's rebirth surprised them enough, but when she continued with Menshikov's betrayal, Apophis' release, and Desjardins' sacrifice, she nearly had a riot on her hands. The other magicians did _not_ like hearing that.

"Lies!" Kwai yelled, stepping forward. He looked about to do more, but Carter cut in.

"It's true." Confidently, he held up the leopard-skin cape, and surprise rippled through the room. Machaela made her way to stand next to her brother as Carter continued. "Desjardins fought at our side. He defeated Menshikov and execrated Apophis. He sacrificed his life to buy us a little time. But Apophis will be back. Desjardins wanted you to know. With his last words, he told me to show you this cape and explain the truth. Especially you, Amos. He wanted you to know—the path of the gods has to be restored."

Even with the portal still swirling, no one had jumped through yet. The enemy magicians all looked rather stunned. Finally, the woman who summoned the portal reacted. Jesse and Machaela had trouble not jumping back, and not just because she spit on the floor. Iskandar had told them about Sarah Jacobi's trial. She had been exiled for intentionally causing a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that had killed tens of thousands of people.

"What are you waiting for?" Jacobi yelled. "They bring us the Chief Lector's cape and tell us this crazy story. They're Kanes! Traitors! They probably killed Desjardins and Menshikov themselves."

Amos's voice boomed across the Great Room in answer. "Sarah Jacobi!" he said, his voice magically amplified. "You of all people know that isn't true. You've devoted your life to studying the ways of Chaos. You can _sense_ the unleashing of Apophis, can't you? And the return of Ra."

Jacobi looked a bit uneasy, confirming that she could sense it, but her face hardened. She would stick to her story. She chose to believe what she wanted to believe and what suited her purpose, and the siblings could see that that wouldn't change, even as Amos gestured at the door.

A flaming ancient Egyptian boat with a uraei honor guard floated down, briefly coming to rest in Philip's swimming pool. Zia and Walt stood on either side of the throne, though how they weren't getting burned, Machaela had no idea. Sitting in the throne, wearing the goofiest grin imaginable, was a very old, shriveled man. Even from the Great Room, Jesse could see the old man's skin was translucent, showing every vein. Holding the crook and flail, none doubted that this was Ra, but no one expected him to look like this, either.

Bast, standing on the terrace with her jaw at her chest as she watched, broke out of her shock. She fell to her knees. "My king!"

"He-llo-o-o-o-o-o," Ra warbled. "Gooood-bye!"

Bast shot to her feet, alarmed. "He's going to rise to the heavens! Walt, Zia, jump off!" Her warning came just in time, as the sun boat started to glow as soon as they were clear. With a hurried message yelled towards Carter and Sadie, Bast jumped onto the sun boat, riding it as it floated into the sky. It turned into a ball of flames that disappeared into the sunlight.

"There's your proof," Amos declared. "The gods and the House of Life must work together. Sadie and Carter are right. The Serpent will not stay down for long, now that he has broken his chains. Who will join us?"

Several around the room threw down their staffs and wands, but Sarah Jacobi sneered. "The other magicians will never recognize your claim, Kane. You are tainted with the power of Set! We'll spread the word. We'll let them know you murdered Desjardins. They'll never follow you!"

She jumped into her portal, followed by Aza, Kwai, Fatim, and one other. Nobody tried to stop them.

The rest of the trainees gathered around the Thoth statue, where Amos was still standing. After some conversation about the power of Ra and the current most powerful magician ended with Amos donning the leopard-skinned cape, everyone separated. The former-enemy magicians tried to help put things back in order before leaving, but the others had everything under control. Alyssa put the Great Room back together, with only a bit of help from Machaela, and everyone else took shares in fixing, dusting, and polishing everything back to ship shape.

 **Hello, readers!**

 **thanks to Panemat and Fus Ro Duh for your wonderful reviews, which reminded me to update. Panemat, I had a similar song stuck in my head while writing it, lol, so I'm glad that transferred :D Fus Ro Duh** , **that's a heck of a compliment. Thank you! I hope you enjoy this one as much!**

 **to everyone, hope you're enjoying the story and don't forget to review!**


	34. Chapter 34

Later, when they could all slip away, Machaela and Jesse followed Zia to one of the unused bedrooms.

They all stared at each other after sitting down, unsure of where to start.

"What happened to you?" Jesse asked when Zia didn't speak up. "Where have you been the last three months?"

"You listened to the tape about the Red Pyramid?" The siblings nodded. "After the museum, Iskandar took me aside and told me he had to take me to a safe place. He wouldn't tell me anything else, but we went to a place where the river bank's sand was red. The last thing I remember is him giving me the crook and flail and promising dreams wouldn't bother me."

Remembering the tape, Machaela finished. "Nephthys took you as a host at the museum, and Iskandar hid you to protect you."

Zia nodded as Jesse spoke up.

"You were hidden in your old village, weren't you?"

Zia stared at him a moment, surprised he had figured it out so quickly, but guessed there were only so many places with red sand Iskandar would have taken her. She nodded again. "According to Carter, Nephthys tried to cover us with the river and protected us with water demons."

Machaela shivered. She had battled water demons once before, in Venice. Tons of not fun.

Jesse pulled a face. "Hate those things. I'm guessing Nephthys separated from you as soon as you were freed?"

She nodded. "Water and fire: not a good combination. I thought I was going to drown before Carter got me to the river. But never mind about me," Zia changed the subject. "Tell me about last December. Weren't you in Australia for Christmas?"

Machaela nodded. "We were in Sydney. Early morning the day after Christmas, Sofia scried Jesse saying that Iskandar wanted us back. We arrived sometime before midnight Cairo time."

"Unsure of what was going on," Jesse picked up, "we sprinted from the portal to our rooms. We saw you—uh, your shabti—coming out of your parent's memorial, but didn't stop to talk."

"We found Iskandar in his room," Machaela took over, her voice cracking as she relived the night. "His breathing had gotten worse in the previous week, but he still seemed…stable? He wouldn't tell us what was going on, but we talked late into the night and fell asleep talking. I woke first midmorning, and he was gone."

"What did you talk about?" Zia asked.

Machaela looked down at her lap, not wanting to answer. She knew Zia just wanted some sort of link to Iskandar, but their conversation had been special. She didn't mind Zia knowing, but Machaela didn't want to be the one to relay it, if that made any sense.

"Mostly, we just reminisced," Jesse answered, "remembering things that had happened over the years, both in Egypt and while travelling. But he also gave us a few things."

"What?" Zia prompted when he didn't immediately continue.

Jesse swallowed, finding this nearly as hard as his sister did. "First was a letter, written by Sarah, the lady who, with her husband Jared, found us after the crash. She described in detail—more detail than we had known at the time—how and where they had found us, and what they had done to search for our parents. She also recorded a conversation with our former neighbor that gave a lead on our mom, but Iskandar hadn't been able to find anything with it."

"He gave us a scroll," Machaela picked up, her voice finally under control. "I thought it was just the spell for a shabti army, which I had been asking him about, but we found out later it's an Omniscroll."

Zia's eyes widened. "That spell usually requires hosting a god of magic or three to four magicians! Where is that, now?"

"Under my bed," Machaela answered. "We used it to prepare for this attack, but it stays with my Emergency Defense kit."

"The last thing was a direction," Jesse took over. "He showed us the Blood of the Pharaohs scroll and pointed out our ancestry, following it up with telling us to help the Kanes."

"Who is your ancestor?"

"Hatshepsut," Machaela answered, "through Thutmose III, which explains my Divine Words ability, her being the only female pharaoh and all."

Zia gave her a half-hearted scowl. "Yeah, what's up with that? Keeping it secret for this long?"

She shrugged and explained how her affinity had been discovered. "I was new in the House, and no one but Sofia and Iskandar knew how much training we had. As it was, Liv still accused us of being godlings until we explained how that was impossible. It would have been worse if I had repelled all her attacks with Divine Words."

Zia gave a half-hearted shrug, conceding the point, but Jesse spoke up before she could. "There's one other thing." He glanced at the door, knowing they were pushing their luck. Somebody was sure to notice them missing soon.

From his Duat locker, he pulled out a necklace and a picture. "One of the last things he talked to us about was you," he told Zia, who was staring at the picture, stunned. That picture should be hanging on the wall in her parents' memorial.

"Sometime after the attack," Machaela told her, "after you were settling into the First Nome and magic around the village site had returned to normal, he went back to your old village and found something in the rubble of your hut."

"He intended to give it to you for your fifteen birthday celebration," Jesse picked up, handing the necklace and picture to her, "but one of his aides misplaced it. By the time he found it, it was too late to be for your fifteenth, so he planned sixteenth."

"But he didn't make it," Zia whispered, her tough façade cracking as she gazed at the necklace. And for very good reason.

The necklace was beautiful. Its slender gold chain held a shining, gold, heart-shaped pendant. Random-appearing gold lines and swirls intercrossed the carefully designed pendant, but, upon looking closer, she realized the lines weren't random; they spelled her parents' names in Arabic. She looked at the picture, and her heart leapt into her throat. Her mom had worn it in their family photo.

Running her finger gently over her parents' names, she turned the necklace over. On the back, the gold delicately wound together to spell her name, perfectly visible without disrupting her parents' names on the front. It was a stunning pendant, and a true family heirloom. She finally had something material connecting her to her parents.

"Thank you." Zia's shell had temporarily broken, showing the siblings the true girl hiding beneath: a girl who missed her parents and was coping with the loss of another parental figure. "This means a lot to me."

Machaela and Jesse grinned at her, but someone knocked on the door before they could answer.

"Hello?" Alyssa poked her head in. "There you are. We're about to have another meeting, and Amos has to leave soon."

"We're coming," Zia assured her, putting on her necklace as they walked out of the room.

"Nice necklace," Alyssa told her, noticing the new pendant. "But why are you wearing the eye of Ra?"

Zia's polite thanks died in her throat. "The eye of Ra?" she repeated, looking down at the pendant. "Hmm." She looked thoughtful. "I guess it does sort of look like that, but that's actually my name in Arabic."

Jesse raised an eyebrow, now also seeing the pattern in the pendant. That was unexpected, but probably just coincidence.

Carter was likely waiting on them to begin the meeting, and they hurried downstairs.

 **Hello, everyone! slightly shorter chapter than normal, but that was the best place to end it. I should update again in a few days, time and memory permitting. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter :)**

 **Thank you Fus Ro Duh for your multiple reviews over the chapters. I just found the last two, and they made my day :D**


	35. Chapter 35

KABOOM!

The blast was so loud, Jesse reflexively ducked, sure something had just exploded above his head even though he had just watched the explosion flash on the horizon. He glanced up.

There was nothing there, of course.

He looked back toward the east, where a moment ago they had seen a bright flash of light. The horizon looked no different than it had a few minutes before. Sleepy Brooklyn neighborhoods full of sleepy Brooklyn residents stretched as far as he could see. Early morning commuters drove along the bridge to the south, and a few people ambled their way across the pedestrian bridge. Nobody else seemed to have noticed anything. The pedestrians hadn't even jumped at the noise!

"What do you think that was?" Machaela asked, still watching the horizon.

"No idea," he answered, also eyeing the horizon, "but that's not the first weird thing to happen this week."

"Yeah, those earthquakes were weird," she replied.

He looked at her sharply. "What earthquakes?"

She stared at him "There have been several barely-felt earthquakes each day for a week or two now. I thought you had felt them, too." He shook his head. "Then what were _you_ talking about?"

"A huge caravan of black vans crossed the bridge about two weeks ago," he started. "They stopped a minute on this side of the bridge, and a teenager got out carrying a bright gold spear. The teenager took off into the neighborhoods and the vans kept going. Then, starting a few days later, huge groups started forming and moving the same direction. Carter said they were just school groups, but _cynocephali_ and those evil-looking centaurs aren't human, much less go to school."

" _Cynocephali_?" she repeated.

He waved her off. "Dog-headed men in Roman myth. My point is these monsters weren't alone. The others couldn't see them, but they've been showing up and heading east for just over a week now. They're not even supposed to _exist_! Why are they forming groups?"

"Huh. Well, what about that lady in the park?"

Jesse pulled a face at the memory. He and Machaela had gone to the park a few Saturdays before to get away from the incessant noise of Brooklyn House. While there, a crazy lady apparently made from dirt had appeared. She drifted around for a couple minutes, ostensibly just wandering, but about seven other people in the crowded park had startled as if electrocuted, their heads jerking around to watch her.

When she had turned toward the duo, it looked as if her earthen eyes were closed, but she turned away before they could look closer. A minute later, three of the seven had bolted in panic, and the other four looked ready to attack. Dirt Woman just laughed and raised her hands, as if wanting a hug. Gravity seemed to tilt for a moment, and the siblings could have _sworn_ a shockwave went through the trees, but that was impossible without wind. A minute later, one of the four still there threw something, and the weird lady disappeared. Whatever it was, Dirt Face had been freaky, and the siblings hadn't gone back there since.

"She was scary," he agreed. "There's no way all this isn't connected. The lady, the vans, the monsters: something's going on. But what?"

They leaned on the table, looking east as they thought. The only ones on the terrace, it had been a nice place for some quiet time in the August warmth until the explosion had ruined it.

In the five months since Apophis' escape, the House of Life had finally rallied to fight the snake. Zia had accompanied Amos to the First Nome where, after three arguments and a duel, he had assumed the position of Chief Lector. Immediately, his attention had been on battling the forces of Chaos, and those who had changed sides after the Battle of Brooklyn House had been granted full amnesty, provided they helped the war effort.

Sarah Jacobi and Kwai had taken over Vlad's old mansion, in Russia's Eighteenth Nome, and continued to build their army. They had been launching attacks on other nomes and blaming them on the Kanes, and one by one, nomes kept defecting. At this rate, the House was going to run out of allies to help battle Apophis.

The snake himself had begun sneak attacks on random nome headquarters around the world. Chicago, Mexico City, and Toronto were just three of the former headquarters reduced to smoking piles of rubble. No one knew why Apophis had attacked, nor did they know where he would attack next. The ones in the attacked nomes might have known, but there hadn't been anyone to ask, wounded or not. Nobody had survived. The nomes were there one day and gone the next, the only evidence of their existence being the smoking rubble illuminated by the rising sun.

That, and the symbol of Chaos, Isfet, burned into the ground like the world's ugliest, most dangerous tattoo.

The House of Life was scrambling, trying to find a pattern, to warn the next nome so they could prepare, but they had had no luck yet.

On top of all this, Brooklyn House had another problem, though it wasn't nearly as dire. Their tutors had quit.

Since January, and at Bast's insistence, Carter, Sadie, and Bast had appointed teachers to come several times a week and hold classes in traditional English, Math, History, and Science. With everyone being, well, kids, pranks had, of course, been played on the teachers now and then, but the others never thought them that bad.

The teachers, however, hadn't agreed, and their third teacher had quit last June, refusing to come back for the new school year. Carter and Sadie were still working on a solution to that, and Jesse was _not_ interested in school, the most obvious solution.

 _Obvious solution._

"It's Occam's Razor," he blurted.

Machaela jumped, startled out of her thoughts. "Whose razor? What?"

"Occam's Razor," he repeated. "The simplest solution is usually correct."

She stared at him, still trying to catch up. She must have been really zoned out before he spoke.

"Black vans? Large groups of monsters? Big boom on the horizon?"

Her eyes cleared as he jogged her memory. "What about Occam's Razor?"

"This simplest solution is usually correct," he repeated. "Those monsters are Greco-Roman. Centaurs are primarily Greek, and those _cenocephali_ are Roman. There have been hellhounds, _dracaenae_ , and cyclopes as well, and all are Greek monsters."

Machaela shrugged, not surprised. "If Egyptian mythology is still around, why not Greek? But then what was that flash?"

He shook his head. "Beats me. Battle, maybe? Can they do spells?"

She didn't have an answer, and they fell silent, watching the horizon to see if anything else would happen. Eventually, Machaela spoke up.

"You remember when Iskandar busted us watching his fight at Zia's old village?"

"Yeah?"

"Remember his reaction to what you termed the monster?"

He had to think a moment. "What I termed the monster," he repeated slowly, trying to remember. His gaze abruptly cleared. "Do you mean 'Cerberus snake'?"

She nodded. "I never did understand his expression. He stared at us so hard, as if trying to read our minds." She paused, but continued when he didn't comment. "I bet Iskandar knew the creatures of Greek myths are still around, and he was trying to figure out if _we_ knew it."

He snorted. "Of course Iskandar knew! He knew everything!"

She chuckled. "Almost everything," she amended.

"Well, yeah. We did manage to hide our Gree-e-e," he stuttered to a stop and looked, wide-eyed, at his sister.

"Our Greek fluency!"

Now _her_ eyes widened as she caught his logic path. "His reaction when we told him!"

He nodded. "But that would mean—"

"Guys?"

He cut himself off and spun around to find Cleo behind him.

"Carter's called a meeting," she told them. "Everything alright out here?"

The siblings exchanged a loaded glance, but didn't say anything in front of Cleo.

"Fine," Machaela answered. "What's up?"

Cleo shrugged. "We'll find out when he starts."

They followed Cleo into the Great Room, where everyone had gathered. Twenty-something young magicians ranging in age from college down to kindergarten had spread out around the mansion's living room. Usually, the others would be wandering, talking, playing video games, and basically causing a racket.

This time, though, everyone was quiet as they whispered among themselves, and several heads turned to the door as Machaela, Jesse, and Cleo walked in.

Jesse grabbed a spot on the floor, and Machaela sat on the arm of the couch, bumping her shoulder against Nen beside her.

Midafternoon last spring, after the former-enemy magicians had left, Machaela had spotted Nen lurking in the alleys near the warehouse beneath the mansion. It had taken some coaxing, but the nervous girl had finally agreed to come back up to the house, where she had easily been accepted after she told her story. She had been living there ever since, and she and Machaela had grown rather close.

"Now that you're all here," Carter started, standing in front of the room, "I have an announcement. Last year, we had tutors come help us keep up with schoolwork, but, as I'm sure you remember, Mr. Rogers, our last tutor, quit last May. Instead of continuing to search for another tutor, Bast has helped us find a school."

Several rumbles came from around the room. No student _likes_ the idea of school, and many of them had come from horrible schools. They didn't want a repeat of that.

Bast stepped forward. "This is not your traditional public school, so you can quit your grumbling." She waited until everyone quieted, then continued. "You will _all_ be attending Brooklyn Academy for the Gifted, starting next month. The Academy is a relaxed atmosphere with flexible schedules. You will all register under an art, music, or drama, whatever you are best at, which will be your gift. Walt, for instance, might make jewelry, since that is close to amulets. Find Carter, Sadie, or me today to register and choose your specialty."

 **Hope everyone's still enjoying the story. Don't forget to review!**


	36. Chapter 36

"Look at it go!"

"Its reaction time is fast!"

"Wow! What a jump!"

Machaela just laughed at her teammates. As the only maker of humanoid robots at BAG, the others enjoyed gathering around to watch her test her final products for the teachers. Taking her prowess with shabtis, she had discovered a way to make them appear remote controlled, concealing the magic.

She and her brother were actually enjoying school, which surprised her a bit. Jesse had never been, of course, but she had had vague memories of long boring days sitting in a classroom, punctuated with older bullies targeting her. Grateful this school was different, she had dived in, becoming a member of several after-school groups, including the fledgling robotics club.

Pinpointing their different talents hadn't been that difficult. Jesse sprang for the design element, and every day he wowed his classmates and impressed the teachers with both building and weapon designs, some his own creation and others copies of ancient weapons. Simply putting them on paper seemed to give him great joy, and he never minded having homework—or, outside-of-class work, since he always finished it in study hall. His only regret was that she couldn't bring any of his weapon designs to life.

Machaela had recently taken an interest in forging weapons, but, since she didn't have a forge, she had to settle for tinkering with various found objects. She focused on shabti-robots for school, but she started devoting her free time to building complex motors and scale replicas of various objects. Her favorite so far had definitely been the scale model helicopter run with rubber bands and a couple springs.

At any rate, the siblings had integrated well into school life, considering they had had no idea what to expect. Jesse was working hard, aiming to graduate a year early, and Machaela had set herself up to graduate in December instead of May.

"You have an excellent robot, Machaela."

Machaela gave the robotics coach, her favorite teacher by far, a large grin. "Thank you, Ms. Willard. It was certainly the most fun to make."

Before Ms. Willard could reply with tips to make it better, another voice cut them off.

"Machaela!"

She spun around. "Carter?! What are you doing here?"

"No time!" he panted, barely stopping his running to talk. "Find your brother and meet everyone at Alyssa's statue." He turned to Ms. Willard, who had simply been staring at him. "Sorry, Ma'am, we have an emergency at home. I'm here to gather everyone up." He took off running again before anyone could respond.

Breaking out of her shock, Machaela jumped into action, gathering her materials.

"That was Carter," she answered the teacher's question, "and he's one of my roommates. No, he doesn't go to school here; he's homeschooled. Aunt Kitty probably sent him, since he knows where everyone would be."

Once Machaela made it obvious she had no more information than Ms. Willard did, the latter stopped trying to question her, allowing Machaela to gather her shabti and leave. She found Jesse in the design lab, and they sprinted for Alyssa's statue.

Shortly after starting at BAG, Sadie had decided they needed a portal point for emergencies. "Borrowing" an artifact from Brooklyn Museum, which she replaced with a replica, Sadie gave it to Alyssa to pass off as her own. Machaela was sure Sadie had found it fitting that the artifact showed a group of mourners, considering the younger girl didn't like the school quite as much as the others did. Or maybe she just didn't like school in general. That was possible.

They arrived at Alyssa's statue to find almost everyone else there, and Freak, Carter's pet griffin that continued to hang around, landed as the last student ran up, Carter close behind.

Carter refused to give any information on the route back to Brooklyn House, but they didn't have to wait long.

Taking only enough time to set her school supplies in her room and change clothes, Machaela met everyone at the table. They may as well eat during their meeting.

Carter stood up. "Thanks to Cleo and Jesse figuring out the pattern, we know what Apophis is going after. I gathered you all up in such a hurry because we just figured out where the attack will be. Felix, Walt, and Alyssa, you will be going with Sadie and me to Dallas tonight. We have to leave as soon as you eat. We have until the moon is at its peak, and, with portals down due to Apophis, we have to travel Air Freak."

Machaela and Jesse both looked confused as Carter continued outlining the plan. Walt made amulets, which would include their reed boat behind Freak. Alyssa used earth magic—stability would be good in an attack on a building. She might prevent the nome's collapse. But why was Felix going? Felix was a great magician, but Jesse was better at combat, and Machaela had Divine Words on her side.

Bast apparently caught their expressions and leaned over. "I know you would have wanted to go," she quietly told them, "but the young ones look up to you. I need you here. I kept Julian back too, since Shelby likes him best."

The siblings nodded in reluctant agreement as Carter sat down, his briefing done. Five-year-old Shelby, the youngest of the ankle-biters, often lead the other young ones in "pranks" around the mansion. Unfortunately, the little ones' pranks were usually more destructive than amusing. Without any help, Bast would have a challenging time making sure they stayed out of trouble.

Like all the youngest magicians, the ankle-biters were there at their parents' permission. They knew, with current events, Brooklyn House was the safest place for their kids to master their inherent magic, and the young ones constantly reminded the older ones to not take their age as inability. Shelby and the other two youngest were just as good, if not better, than the older magicians. Shelby's crayons often morphed into weapons, and just last week Shelby's crayon drawing of a unicorn had come to life, peeling itself off the page.

The six going to Dallas—Khufu had insisted on accompanying them—piled into the reed boat immediately after dinner, and the others tried to have a normal evening.

Machaela organized a game, which kept interest for about an hour, but soon enough everyone had wandered different ways to do homework or watch tv. Machaela and Jesse ended up in the corner, Jesse with a book and Machaela building a new random-objects-engine, and the evening past slowly.

Some hours later, Machaela had switched from her small engine to working on another magical shabti-robot. Gathering her magic, and materials, she was focusing on the robot's internals when she felt a distinct ripple in the Duat.

Her head snapped up at the same time Jesse's did.

"Did you feel that?" he asked.

She nodded. "It came from the Dallas area," she murmured, making sure the others couldn't hear her. None of the others had reacted, and if they hadn't felt it they didn't need to know about it yet.

Jesse's face lined with worry, and he followed her onto the terrace, which Bast had commandeered to escape the noise of the Great Room.

"Did you feel that?" Jesse asked Bast as Machaela bolted for a corner out of sight of the chaos inside.

"I did." Bast stretched. "It woke me from a cat nap. Was it Sadie?"

Unsure of the answer, Jesse shook his head as he watched his sister. She performed a quick locator spell to check on the team. Upon seeing the results, she double-checked the spell, looking more and more worried.

"What is it?" Jesse came closer. The spell should be done by now.

"I really hope my spell is malfunctioning," came Machaela's worried reply.

Bast moved closer at that. "You _hope_ it's malfunctioning?"

"Yeah." Machaela hung her head. "This spell searches for a heartbeat, and I can't find Sadie."

Neither Bast nor Jesse could respond for a moment. If Sadie was gone…Jesse didn't let the thought finish.

"Is there another spell you can try?" Jesse finally asked.

Machaela thought a moment. "There's one, but it's really long. It takes at least twenty minutes to cast, and it'll only show the scene for a moment. I can't use the better spell with the snake free."

"Unless it's out of your range for magic, try it," Jesse told her. "As much as I don't want it to be true, we need to know if the others are dead."

Machaela nodded and started chanting, and Jesse and Bast leaned back to watch.

Jesse didn't even want to think about it, but he forced himself to work the logic. Every other nome attacked by Apophis had been left with no survivors. If Carter, Sadie, and the others were gone, someone would have to lead the nome into battle. Apophis would attack the First Nome soon, probably on or after the equinox. Who would be the best leader? Who would the others follow?

Machaela finished chanting, and a scene shimmered in the air.

Police lights blinked in the night, casting their blue glare on buildings, debris, and smashed windows as police blocked off streets around a museum so destroyed it looked as if a bomb had exploded there. Plumes of smoke rose from all around an Olympic-pool sized crater. Melted metal sculptures and chunks of stone lay in the crater, surrounded by shattered champagne glasses, smoking and tattered eveningwear, and broken magician staffs and wands. A concrete slab had broken in half, sliding into the crater, and charred musical instruments lay all around. Glowing brightly at one edge of the crater was a single glyph: _Isfet_. Apophis had left his calling card.

Barely visible at the edge of the scene was a flicker. Possibly a boat, but it was only visible a moment.

The spell ended, and the scene blinked out.

What could they do? Dallas was obviously destroyed, and they couldn't reach their team. Were they all dead? Was that their boat on the edge of the screen?

Jesse asked if they could do the locator spell again, but Machaela shook her head.

"If they were in the boat, they're in the Duat by now, and it doesn't work there."

"So we're stuck waiting until they have enough time to get back?"

"Pretty much." Machaela turned to Bast. "You want to keep watch on the roof? If that was them in the boat, they should be here soon."

Bast was headed toward the roof access before Machaela finished her sentence, and the siblings went back to the Great Room.

Machaela started back on her shabti and Jesse his book, but neither of them could focus. Every minute that ticked by lessened the chance that their friends were coming home. Alyssa, Walt, Felix, even Khufu they considered good friends, but Sadie and Carter were the nome leaders. They were the pioneers in the path of the gods, and the success of this nome hinged on their leadership. If they were gone, not only would the nome possibly fall apart, but anyone left would battle Apophis essentially alone. Sure, the magicians from the First Nome would still be there, but the population had continued to rapidly decline in the last several years, housing only a few young initiates, their teachers, and several aging magicians. Amos would be unable to hold off the attackers for long.

 _Amos_ …What would they tell Amos? They had only known him for a few days, but those few days had included a battle, and battle is the quickest way to get to know someone. He would be heartbroken at the loss of his niece and nephew.

Their thoughts continued to race, bouncing from one possibility to the next, working through where the others should be if that _had_ been their boat, wondering how they would tell Amos and Zia if the unthinkable had happened, counting every minute because _they should be back by now_.

Finally, a loud thump on the roof interrupted their thoughts. A moment later, Freak screamed, and the siblings relaxed slightly. Torn between wanting to rush upstairs to know the others were fine and staying seated to avoid scaring the little kids, they settled for edging their way to better watch the door.

Several tense minutes later, footsteps sounded on the stairs. Walt came down, looking stricken, but he refused to say anything, going straight to his room. One by one, team members trickled down the stairs, all looking tired. Felix's eyes were puffy from crying. Alyssa looked as if she was going into shock. Everyone went straight to their rooms, refusing to answer questions. This should have relieved Machaela and Jesse, but no news wasn't always good news.

Finally, Carter and Bast made their way down the stairs, Sadie following close behind. Machaela and Jesse struggled to hide their relief.

Jesse studied the duo as Julian asked about the mission. Carter looked exhausted. His eyes were red, as if he had been holding back tears. A slight stumble showed he was barely staying awake, and Sadie didn't look any better. She was covered in smaller wounds, her hands were wrapped in gauze, and she showed the signs of having overextended her magic. She was going on willpower alone.

Unwilling to give details in front of the little ones, Carter would only acknowledge the loss of the Fifty-First Nome and the safety of the team. He mentioned possibly finding something helpful, but Shelby interrupted then, ending the conversation and letting Carter, Sadie, and Bast escape into the library.

Wanting to talk to them, Machaela and Jesse were waiting near the door when Cleo prompted Carter to hurry upstairs to take an incoming call. With the meeting adjourned, they went inside to catch Sadie before she disappeared, too.

"Are you alright?" Machaela asked immediately.

Sadie spun around to face them. She gave them a small, tired smile, apparently too tired for her usual spunk and sarcasm.

"I'm fine," she told them, a bit puzzled. "Why?"

"I felt the ripple in the Duat when he attacked," Machaela answered, "and anchored a spell on you to check on everyone. It couldn't find a heartbeat."

"Hoping the spell malfunctioned," Jesse took over, "we conjured a screen showing the Dallas nome, and it had been leveled."

"And you feared the worst," Sadie finished, putting her hand on her forehead. "Yeah. Right sorry about worrying you, but your spell didn't malfunction. I was dead for about two minutes after summoning Ma'at."

"You did _what?_ " Machaela's jaw hit the floor as Sadie nodded a bit sheepishly.

"Apophis attacked, and the building was going to crumble. It was the only way."

Machaela shook her head. "Even with an affinity for Divine Words, I've never dared try that. The spell requires a great deal of magic, heightened by adrenaline. It's a true do-it-or-die spell."

Sadie just shrugged, obviously not really wanting to talk about it. Considering only the five closest to Sadie survived an attack by Apophis, the spell had evidently saved them from certain death.

Neither Machaela nor Jesse had an immediate reply. Given a chance, Sadie excused herself, claiming she needed to get ready for school the next morning.

 **Hope you enjoyed and don't forget to review!**

 **To Shadowdragon9802, thank you very much for the review (and the compliment!) In answer to your question, probably not. This story focuses on Machaela and Jesse's time away from the rest of their family. To see the other half of the story, you'd want to read Life of a Demigod. The other stories in the LoD verse are short plot-snippets related to the main LoD timeline**


	37. Chapter 37

Machaela and Jesse hurried home directly after school the next day. The Fall Formal was later that night, and the siblings knew Carter would want to have a meeting about the night before.

There was a high level of excitement at the table, all about the upcoming dance that night. Most of the girls had planned their outfits out weeks before. The guys at school had formally asked their dates, many in creative and sweet ways. This dance had been the talk of the school for months, and tonight was going to be _great_!

Carter stood up, "Okay. I know there's a dance, but—"

"At seven," Jaz put in. "You're coming, right?"

Jesse's head spun around. Was Jaz _flirting_? With _Carter?_

Carter apparently wondered that too. His face flushed a bit. "Uh…so anyway," he stammered. "We need to talk about what happened in Dallas, and what happens next."

That killed the mood in a hurry. Everyone sobered as he continued, explaining the mission to Dallas and adding Zia's showing him a broadcast by Sarah Jacobi. Then Sadie took over, explaining her encounter with another magician, the two gods, and her mother.

Cleo raised her hand when Sadie finished. "So…the rebel magicians have a death warrant out for you. The gods can't help us. Apophis could arise at any time, and the last scroll that might've helped us to defeat him has been destroyed. But we shouldn't worry, because we have an empty box and a vague hunch about shadows."

Jesse snorted in amusement, mumbling, "So what else is new?" under his breath. Machaela elbowed him in the ribs, but couldn't quite hide her grin at his sarcasm.

Carter rested his hands on the table, taking a deep breath to calm himself. "This is more than a vague hunch. Look, you've all learned about execration spells, right?"

In his pool, Philip grunted and slapped the pool with his tail. Water showered down on the table as Machaela tossed him a piece of bacon to help calm him down. Magical creatures are understandably sensitive about _execration_.

"Dude," Julian said as he dabbed the water off his grilled cheese, "you can't execrate Apophis. He's _massive_. Desjardins tried it and got killed."

"I know," Carter answered. "With standard execration, you destroy a statue that represents the enemy. But what if you could crank up the spell by destroying a more powerful representation—something more connected to Apophis?"

Jesse and Machaela exchanged a look, seeing where Carter was going. That had only a marginally better chance than the standard method.

Walt leaned forward, suddenly interested. "His shadow?" Machaela eyed Walt. When the others had gotten back yesterday, he had been about to pass out, and he didn't look much better today. The shadows under his eyes were deeper, and he barely picked at his food.

Everyone knew about Walt's curse, about how he didn't have much longer to live. The Curse of Tutankhamen had been mentioned in their lessons a few times in the First Nome. With every bit of magic he did, Machaela, Jesse, and everyone else around them could see his energy slip further and further away. Even more infuriating was that there was no cure, and there was barely any treatment. Jaz had taken to tattooing pain relieving hieroglyphs on him every day, and he was still in constant pain. Machaela and Jesse wished, yet again, that Iskandar was still alive. He would know how to help Walt.

Walt's comment startled Felix so much, he dropped his spoon, crushing one of the mashed-potato penguins he had been making as everyone talked. "Wait, what?"

"I got the idea from Horus," Carter continued. "He told me statues were called shadows in ancient times."

"But that was just, like, symbolic," Alyssa protested. "Wasn't it?"

Bast set down her empty Fancy Feast can, the slight _ping_ of it hitting the table resounding over the quiet terrace. She looked more than a bit nervous about this whole _shadow_ concept, but something had apparently convinced her this was the best idea. Jesse wondered if it was anything related to a statue Sadie had been mumbling about.

"Maybe not," Bast answered. "I'm no expert on execration, mind you. Nasty business. But it's possible that a statue used for execration was originally meant to represent the target's shadow, which is an important part of the soul."

 _Important?_ Machaela thought with a huff of suppressed amusement. _That's an understatement. There are only five parts of the soul._

"So," Sadie said, "we could cast an execration spell on Apophis, but instead of destroying a statue, we could destroy his actual shadow. Brilliant, eh?"

Julian wasn't impressed. "That's nuts. How do you destroy a shadow?"

Walt shooed one of Felix's penguins from the Jell-O Khufu had given him. "It's not nuts. Sympathetic magic is all about using a small copy to manipulate the actual target. It's possible the whole tradition of making little statues to represent people and gods—maybe at one time those statues actually _contained_ the target's _sheut_. There are lots of stories about the souls of the gods inhabiting statues. If a shadow was trapped in a statue, you might be able to destroy it."

The conversation moved into whether it was even possible, and Machaela had to admit to herself that it was possible, however dangerous. Yes, even though creating these landed in _sau_ territory and not statuary, Iskandar had mentioned in Machaela's lessons that statues used to contain a piece of a soul. If one then destroyed that piece of soul…Theoretically, this could work, but she couldn't just tell them that.

Machaela and Jesse had stayed relatively quiet through the table's debate for a few reasons, but mostly because they knew giving the others the answers they sought might make those answers irrelevant. Knowledge can only come through searching; given answers have no value, and are quickly forgotten. The process of _finding_ the answers they sought would also give them the strength and knowledge to _use_ those answers correctly.

Growing up with Iskandar as her teacher, there had been many times Machaela had wished Iskandar hadn't followed that piece of wisdom. She hadn't understood why he wouldn't just tell her the right answer instead of making her figure it out herself with a bit of guidance. He already knew. She knew he knew, but he still made her figure it out on her own. It was only when she looked back that she realized that if he had simply given her the answer when she asked for it, she would have known the answer, yes, but she wouldn't have had the faintest idea of how to use it.

It was hard for them to stay quiet, especially since Carter and Sadie would be going to ask Thoth if he knew, and Machaela and Jesse still had issues trusting even the gods on their side. Plus, since the world was at stake, the quest would likely lead into the Duat, which was always dangerous. The siblings didn't enjoy the idea of their friends in danger, but they knew Carter and Sadie could handle it. The Kane siblings were very powerful magicians, after all.

In her true style of party first, work later, Sadie irritated Carter with her pronouncement that they wouldn't go to Thoth until after the dance. Carter, of course, didn't like it, but Sadie was much too stubborn. The dance was still on, and everyone left the table to prepare.

Machaela caught Sadie on the way into the mansion. "Wait up, Sadie."

Sadie eyed her. "I don't suppose you can confirm or deny our shadow hunch?" she asked.

Machaela shook her head. "Sorry, but that's best found for yourselves. I _can_ tell you, though, that you need to bring your magic kit to the dance." Sadie looked about to protest, but Machaela cut her off. "Remember what happened last March? You tried to put off the inevitable, and the attack nearly cost you your grandparents and two best friends. A morale boost isn't a bad thing, but stay alert. It's only three days until the equinox. Promise you'll bring your magic kit?"

"Fine," Sadie grumbled.

Machaela relaxed a bit. Sadie wasn't happy about it, but at least she would have her tools if she needed them. It was always better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

"Thank you," Machaela said, then walked off to get ready.

* * *

By sunset, Machaela and Jesse were ready for the school dance. Machaela, for one, wasn't really interested in being in the crowd, and Jesse would rather read, of course, but they had promised to at least make an appearance.

Machaela had chosen a long, flowing dress with a black bodice than lightened to flames as it reached the skirt's hem. She thought it was gorgeous, and she looked good in it too.

Jesse had dressed up in a black tuxedo with a silvery grey tie that matched his eyes. Machaela was rather surprised he had chosen that, but he later admitted Cleo had helped him choose it. He tugged at the tie, trying to banish the choking feeling the tightness gave him.

Arriving via Air Freak, the initiates broke into groups immediately to greet mortal friends and try the punch. Many chose a partner and hit the dance floor, while others steered well clear, opting to chat on the sidelines for now.

The teachers had set up the dance in the pavilion near the administration building. Lights hung from the trees and a band played in the gazebo. Several teachers patrolled the perimeter on "bush patrol" to keep students from sneaking into the shrubbery.

Sticking together, the siblings wandered the edge, each sipping some punch and watching people. Neither really had any interest in dancing, but they had to wait a few minutes before they could disappear into the scenery. Jesse had a book waiting for him in the Duat.

They chuckled a bit when Sadie left Carter with Lacy. Lacy was a sweet girl, but a bit airheaded. They both found it a bit fitting Sadie had to deal with Drew and her Plastic Bag crew for a few minutes after pranking her brother like that. Talk about karma.

Sadie started dancing with some other guy that the siblings couldn't identify, and, with the teachers distracted by the Plastic Bags, Machaela and Jesse chose that moment to slip away into the shadows.

They wandered through the campus, enjoying the silent pathways. An owl hooted from a nearby tree. A hawk pounced on fuzzy-tailed rabbit. Bats chased bugs high above them.

Passing the library, they took their customary seats on either side of a sphinx statue. After ensuring they weren't shabtis in waiting, the siblings had chosen this as their preferred hang out spot. It was perfect for looking out over the central green, and the stone steps had been worn away in a pattern closely resembling a seat. To top it off, being next to the library let Jesse run inside for a new book whenever he wanted, and Machaela had unlimited access to research books.

All that was closed this time of night, of course, especially with everyone at the dance, but they still enjoyed their normal spots. Machaela started setting up her newest project, and Jesse pulled out his book, both ready to settle in for an hour of quiet.

Unfortunately, their quiet only lasted about ten minutes. A shock wave raced through the campus, sending Machaela's papers flying and making Jesse's ears pop.

Jesse slammed his book closed with a bang. "That came from the party!"

Machaela quickly shoved her materials into the Duat, and they hurried back to the pavilion.

They arrived as a gale of wind rushed outwards away from a small tornado. Students and teachers lay around the pavilion, all unconscious. Or all but one. Sadie stood near the tornado, screaming something they couldn't hear, but the wind just got louder and louder.

Then it was gone. Sadie turned toward her brother, who was beginning to stir on the ground though Lacy still snored in his armpit, probably to check on him, when a young man stepped into the light on the other side of the pavilion.

Sadie focused on the young man, but Machaela and Jesse tried to help the other students.

Whatever had knocked everyone else out had made Machaela and Jesse groggy, but they pushed through it. They tried to wake everyone up, but those closer to the blast couldn't push through the haze. It would take them a few minutes to fully wake.

Machaela could find nothing wrong with them, so they sat in some chairs at the edge of the dance floor, out of earshot of Sadie's conversation with the visitor, though they kept a careful watch on their conversation. The man was obviously Russian, and with Jacobi's headquarters in Russia, they would jump in at the slightest sign of aggression.

Slowly, teachers and students came around, and teachers started gathering everyone and calling parents. Machaela heard one of them mention hazardous gas, but it seemed they were simply erring on the side of caution. A pavilion full of people collapse all at once? Even the mortals couldn't write that off.

Sadie rushed over to Carter, spouting off a bunch of information. It took him a couple of minutes to understand, and all the while sirens began to sound in the distance. Eventually, though, Carter seemed to comprehend what Sadie was telling him. She ran off with the Russian man, and Carter started gathering everyone up.

They managed to leave before the police arrived, and back at Brooklyn House, Walt was rather surprised to see them back so early. Carter was all business, though. He, Bast, and Walt had a quick conference on the terrace while everyone changed clothes.

Machaela came downstairs in time to watch Carter and Walt hurry upstairs toward Freak, who wouldn't like another trip, but would do it for the frozen turkeys. The crazy birdbrain loved the frozen turkeys Carter gave him to keep him occupied. She wondered where Carter got the unending supply, but had never asked. She did, however, ask Bast if they were going to Thoth, which Bast confirmed.

Remembering the accounts of Thoth from the tapes, Machaela knew not to expect the boys back any time soon. The scatterbrained god followed enough tangents to keep them occupied until morning at the earliest.

 **Hope you enjoyed the newest chapter! Thanks to Panemat for the review, and I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on this chapter.**


	38. Chapter 38

Early the next morning, Machaela woke to the strangest greeting she never expected to hear.

"Ha-llloooooooo!"

She covered her head with a pillow. Today was her late day: her only day to sleep in. _Who in this house was making noise_?

"Weasels, weasels, weasels!"

She groaned into her pillow, recognizing the voice. The last time the owner of that voice had been there was the previous March, and she doubted they would be quiet any time soon. She may as well get up.

"Lord Ra!" came Bast's voice. "Lord Ra, come back downstairs!"

 _Ugh_. Bast was on babysitting (or was it godsitting?) duty. Something must be up if he wasn't with Zia again.

Growling about having to get up early, she got dressed and wandered downstairs.

Jesse bustled about the Great Room, gathering school materials for his earliest morning of the week. He chuckled at her bedhead but didn't speak after seeing her mood. Jesse didn't like mornings any more than she did, but he had planned to be up early. Machaela, on the other hand, had planned to be able to sleep in. Her half-hearted growl at Jesse when he got between her and the fridge said it all, and he backed off until she had something to munch on.

Ten minutes later, with Machaela starting to wake up, Jesse meandered over, having finished getting ready to leave.

"Why is Ra here?" Machaela mumbled, barely awake enough to talk.

Jesse shrugged. "Bast hissed her way downstairs this morning, grumbling. Apparently, Amos called asking her for a favor. Zia's unavailable and everyone else was otherwise occupied, so Ra came here."

She didn't reply, taking another bite of her morning snack and watching everyone hustle around. Ra, dressed only in a loincloth, bounced from one room to another like a six-year-old high on sugar, and Bast followed to keep him out of various things. She eventually gave him some cookies, maybe hoping he would sit down to eat them. No such luck, though. He stored them in his loincloth for later (gross) and continued bouncing like a rabbit.

As annoyed as she was at his racket, Machaela had to admit Bast's frustration _was_ rather funny. Usually, the cat goddess avoided anything resembling _work_ , but the eccentric sun god proved to be a handful—a very noisy handful. Machaela even considered going to school early just to get away from the incessant noise. At least there, she could hang out with a few of her friends.

She was pondering the pros and cons of this idea when a jumble of flowerpots in the corner came to life.

Red clay flowerpots had been glued together with string, duct tape, and a hefty bit of magic. The jumble of pots had been laying in the corner for days, but now the pots stood in a vaguely humanoid manner, shook itself off, and started moving around. After eyeing the rest of the initiates bustling about, the flower-pot-shabti turned around to see Jesse and Machaela staring at it.

"Ah!" Sadie's voice echoed inside the top pot, one turned upside down with a smiley face drawn in permanent marker. "Is Carter back yet?"

Machaela had trouble controlling her expression and didn't answer immediately. Sadie had no talent with shabtis, but at some point, she had decided she could create the perfect shabti that would do all her chores like a remote-controlled robot.

Her first attempt had actually exploded, but her second attempt had been a googly-eyed Thermos. While it hadn't exploded, it had still backfired—majorly. The Thermos levitated around the room, chasing people and yelling, "Exterminate!" and Machaela hadn't been able to catch it yet to deactivate it.

After the levitating Thermos, Machaela had offered to help Sadie make a shabti, but no, Sadie wanted to do it herself. She had crafted the flower-pot-contraption a few days before, naming it Sadie Junior, but hadn't activated it yet.

"No, he's not here," Jesse answered.

"How about you go wait in Carter's room?" Machaela asked. "We'll send him up as soon as he gets here."

Sadie Junior clomped her way up the stairs, and Jesse chased down Bast to tell her the news.

After her harried acknowledgement while trying to prevent the sun god from jumping off the terrace, Jesse wandered back inside to search for his sister. She stepped out of a room on the third floor to get his attention, and he went up to see what she was doing.

"What are you doing?" he asked. She looked more awake, but he hadn't expected to find her in Felix's room.

"Has Felix not been pranking you recently?" she asked as she ran wires around. "He's been booby-trapping my room all week! If I can't go back to bed, I may as well get some payback."

Jesse shrugged. "Of course he's pranked me. I just haven't figured out a good payback prank."

She grinned at him. "Then help me with this. Here, set this up on his closet door."

She handed him one of their simpler pranks: one door opens and another door closes. He started running the wire from a hidden part of the closet door over to the back of a light switch, rigging it so that turning on the closet light would close the door. She went back to rigging his lamp.

They were nearly done when they heard footsteps outside. The footsteps went into the neighboring room, and they heard Carter and Sadie Junior start talking, though they couldn't understand what was discussed.

A few minutes later, they clearly heard Sadie's sign off, and Carter, Walt, and Bast started talking on the balcony outside Carter's room. The siblings could hear them clearly.

Carter outlined a plan to visit the Hall of Judgement that night and collect Setne, but Bast immediately protested.

She had a good point. Setne was easily one of the most evil magicians in Egypt's history. He was a pathological liar, a scoundrel, a traitor, a thief, and (unfortunately) a brilliant magician. He had created irreversible curses and unearthed secrets that should have stayed hidden. Towards the end of his life, he had even stolen the Book of Thoth, with the intent to make himself immortal. Fortunately, he died before he could blackmail the gods with his knowledge, but had escaped judgement over and over through the millennia. Setne would, in all probability, betray Carter and Sadie and leave them for dead.

However, according to Carter, he was their only shot. Only he now had the knowledge they had lost to Apophis' attack in Dallas.

Bast promised to guard the entrance to the First Nome, but Carter pointed out the rebel attack.

"Amos needs magicians who know the path of the gods," he said. "He needs _us_. All of us."

"You mean, abandon Brooklyn House," Walt said, digesting the idea.

"Carter," Bast told him, "they're not ready."

"They have to be," Carter stressed. "If the First Nome falls, it's all over. Apophis will attack us in Egypt, at the source of our power. We have to stand together with the Chief Lector."

"One last battle." Walt sounded crestfallen. "Should we break the news to the others?"

"Not yet." Carter paused, maybe thinking. "The rebel magicians' attack on the First Nome won't happen until tomorrow. Let the kids have one last day at school. Bast, when they come home this afternoon, I want you to lead them to Egypt. Use Freak, use whatever magic you have to. If all goes well in the Underworld, Sadie and I will join you before the attack."

Machaela suppressed a snort. _If all goes well… Yeah, that happens a lot._

Bast agreed. "What about Ra?" she asked next. "If Apophis is going to attack in two days…"

Jesse glanced at his sister. Ra would have to keep making his nightly journey, of course, but nobody was really sure how Ra was supposed to beat Apophis while dressed in a loincloth and talking about weasel cookies. Would he become himself again upon facing Apophis? Or would Apophis face no challenge in swallowing the sun? There was no way to know. They could only fight for what they believed in.

"Use today to organize," they heard Carter tell the others. "Gather up the most valuable scrolls, amulets, weapons—anything we can use to help the First Nome. Let Amos know you're coming. Walt and I will head to the Underworld and meet Sadie. We'll rendezvous with you in Cairo."

As Carter finished his discussion on the balcony, Machaela held her brother's gaze, communicating in a way only siblings can.

 _Do you have anything important today?_

 _Nothing I can't make up later. You?_

 _Nope._

He glanced around the booby-trapped room. _We should probably take this down…_

Machaela pouted, but agreed. If they were going to war that night, it wouldn't do to play a prank right before leaving. Besides, if they weren't going to school that day, they would need to focus on preparing instead of anticipating a prank. They could (and would) get their revenge after Doomsday was exterminated.

Heh, Doomsday exterminated. Machaela allowed a half-hearted chuckle at the pun.

Taking the pranks apart was much faster than putting them up, and they had the room back to normal before Carter and Walt left. They stepped outside Felix's room to find Bast trying to corral Ra back downstairs.

She froze a moment upon noticing them. "What were you doing in there?" she asked suspiciously.

Machaela shrugged. "We were going to play a payback prank on Felix, but we accidentally heard that whole conference."

"We'll stay home from school today," Jesse continued. "You're going to need help gathering stuff for tonight."

Bast tried to protest, saying she'd be fine, but Machaela shook her head, eyeing the old god gumming a doorknob with intent to kill. "You're watching Ra all day. Let us help. You'll need to have weapons, amulets, and other magic implements gathered, expand Freak's boat, and have a bunch of other stuff ready for when the others get home from school tonight. We don't have anything at school that we can't make up later, and tomorrow's the weekend. Don't worry about it."

She stared at them for a moment, deciding whether to argue more. Then Ra switched focus from gumming the doorknob to trying to climb the railing.

"Lord Ra!" Bast cried, almost physically pulling the senile god back to solid floor. "Lord Ra, stay on the floor!" With Ra safely _off_ the third story railing, she directed her attention back to the siblings. "Fine. Jesse? Start going through the library for spells and amulets. Machaela? Freak's boat dissolved this morning. Try to figure out a way to get all the trainees to Egypt."

"On it," they said in unison, and split up to do their jobs.

 **And here's the newest chapter! Hope everyone enjoyed it. Don't forget to review!**

 **Thanks to Shadowdragon9802 for your review of last chapter**


	39. Chapter 39

Ducking into her room, Machaela pulled out her Emergency Defense kit, which she had mostly restocked after the Battle of Brooklyn House. She opened it up, mumbling as she went.

" _Kopides_ , _khopeshes_ , magic kits, scroll—oh, I'll need that—amulets. Where is it?" She dug deeper, searching for something she remembered making and setting aside. "Aha!"

She pulled a boat-shaped amulet from the bottom of the kit and set it next to the scroll. In a burst of preparedness one boring weekend, she had gone around making extras of various handy magic items around the mansion. She had never been good at making amulets, even with how similar they were to shabtis, but she had eventually figured out how to make one that expanded into a boat. Add in some rope she knew was in the training room, and Jesse would have the materials to get Freak to take them to Egypt. That solved that problem.

Next, she grabbed a list of every trainee's specialty and made sure she had an extra weapon for everyone. Jesse's _kopis_ , Julian's twin _khopeshes_ , wands, staffs, scrolls, words lists, and the list went on. She needed a backup on hand in case anyone's materials broke. She and Jesse would store them in the Duat later so that either of them could retrieve them.

Scrambling around her room and referring to her Omniscroll more than once, she gathered everything she had shoved in various hiding places and placed them in a large duffle. She refused to be anything other than fully prepared for anything.

"Need this," she mumbled as she packed. "That can stay here. Cleo will want that. Oh, this'll help Shelby. Paul likes hammers. My forging hammer can be his backup."

She finally left her room around lunch with a large bag of equipment slung over her shoulder. Leaving it in the Great Room, she found Jesse rummaging through the kitchen.

"Find anything?" she asked as she walked in.

He turned around with his mouth full, and had to swallow before answering. "Yeah, I found several amulets Walt may want during the battle and a list of spells for Cleo. You?"

She nodded. "I had a spare boat we can attach to Freak, and I found duplicates of weapons, wands, staffs, et cetera for all the trainees."

He thought about that as he took another bite of his sandwich. Thinking that his lunch looked good, Machaela started making her own lunch.

"What about extra equipment for the First Nome?" Jesse finally asked.

She turned sharply. "You think we need that?"

"Well," he answered thoughtfully, "with a few exceptions, the only ones there now are elderly and initiates. If anyone portals in from the other nomes to help, they might need a weapon."

She had to agree. "I'll need your help, though," she told him. "I only had spares for the trainees. We'll have to call stuff from the Duat, and we should do it now so we can recharge our magic before the battle."

Hurrying to finish her lunch, Machaela followed her brother down into the library, where they got out a scroll and quill.

"Remember how to do this together?" she confirmed.

He gripped the quill above her hand with a nod, and, working together, they started calling forth various weapons from the Duat.

 _Kopides_ , _khopeshes_ , throwing sticks, daggers, several staffs, more wands, bows, axes, spears, a couple slingshots, they called various weapons and materials from the Duat, one at a time, setting each one aside. It took nearly an hour, and they were both exhausted. Sometimes magic merely made them hungry, but great amounts of magic had the tendency to tire them, and this was one of those times. Doing it together lessened the toll it took, but by the time they finished, Machaela, who had greater magic reserves and therefore had expended more energy, was nearly asleep on her feet, and Jesse was ravenous, in spite of having just eaten lunch. It had been too long since they had practiced creating from Ma'at, and it showed. Jesse stumbled his way to the Great Room couch for a nap, but Machaela only made it as far as a recliner in the corner of the library before she was out.

She awoke to someone shaking her.

"Hey, you alright?" a voice asked.

She opened bleary eyes, trying to focus on the sleep-distorted voice above her head. "Machaela? Can you hear me?"

She slowly blinked a few times, rolled over, and slowly sat up. She was in the library still, though she hadn't remembered reaching the recliner nor flopping on her stomach to sleep. A pile of various weapons glinted to her right, but then a figure knelt in front of her. "Machaela?"

Coming out of the sleep-induced haze, she finally recognized the voice's owner. "Bast?" she asked through a huge yawn. "What time is it?"

Bast stared at her, mildly concerned. "Nearly three in the afternoon," she answered. "Are you alright? It took a few tries to wake you, and you never sleep in the middle of the day." Bast was apparently concerned enough to leave out her opinion on Machaela's lack of naps. Bast slept whenever and wherever she could.

Machaela took a moment to respond, still trying to wake up. She hated magic-induced sleep. Up in the Great Room, she could hear Jesse trying to corral Ra, but judging by the noise, he wasn't having much luck. He sounded more awake, though; he must have been up for a while.

"I'm fine," she finally answered, gesturing to the pile of weapons behind Bast. "It took a lot of energy summoning those. How long has Jesse been up?"

Bast raised an eyebrow at her. "If he slept at all, it wasn't long. He's been helping with Ra for the last couple hours while I gathered a few things. I thought you were in your room until I came in here to find a spell book, only to see you face down on the chair."

Machaela shook her head sharply, clearing her mind from the deep sleep she had been in. "It's three, you said?" she asked, trying to redirect the conversation. "The others will be home soon, and Jesse and I still need to put our supplies in the Duat."

She started to get up, but Bast stopped her. "Not so fast. Why were you passed out on the chair? Are you sick?"

Bast tried to check her forehead, but Machaela batted the hand away impatiently. "I'm _fine_. Take a look at the pile of weapons behind you and tell me you wouldn't be exhausted after creating those from Ma'at. The only reason you were able to wake me now is because Jesse did some of the work."

Bast eyed the weapon pile. "When the others do magic, they get hungry, and so do you, usually. Why did this one make you tired?"

Machaela shrugged, slowly standing from the recliner to stretch as she answered. "No idea. Sometimes the larger creation spells do that. Now are you going to let me finish getting ready, or must we waste time on this interview?"

Bast rolled her eyes, but let Machaela pass to go get her brother.

Upstairs in the Great Room, Jesse had managed to enthrall Ra with the tv for a few minutes, and was in the midst of carrying the duffle Machaela had packed that morning toward the library.

"There you are!" he said when he noticed her. "I figured you'd probably wake up soon. The others will get home any minute. Want to stick the supplies in the Duat?"

"Bast found me," Machaela answered, "and woke me up. Otherwise I'd still be sleeping, but yeah we need to finish getting ready."

She followed him back down the stairs, where he placed the duffle with the trainee-specific extras next to the weapons they had summoned. She then added a large first aid kit as well as a box of shabtis. With Bast safely out of the way, they lifted the pile and shoved the whole thing in the Duat. To double check, each of them summoned something from their store. When Machaela held a bow and Jesse held a staff, they knew it had worked. Both of them could access the extra supplies.

Bast looked as if she was going to say something, but right then Ra sounded off something about cats, and voices rose as the trainees got home from school.

Calling up the basic armor he had formed last spring, Jesse started fiddling with the straps to put on the breastplate as they walked up to the Great Room, knowing it would get everyone's attention.

Gathered around the couch were the trainees, all chattering about the school day and setting up homework stations. It was the weekend, and, in spite of the attack on Dallas two days before, they were still optimistic about weekend plans. One group suggested a mall visit, while a couple of the guys were planning sports competitions.

Sure enough, though, as soon as they came out of the library, Cleo asked why he had armor on. Her question echoed through a momentary lull in conversation, drawing everyone's attention to the small group leaving the library.

Machaela stepped up before Bast had the chance to respond. "Carter and Sadie are currently in the Duat working on a way to defeat the snake." Just that sentence killed the mood that had been there previously. Everyone stilled as she continued. "Grab some dinner, then gather weapons and anything you may need. As soon as dinner is over, we're heading to the First Nome. The rebels are planning an attack to coincide with the equinox."

The mingling groups slowly split up as everyone gathered up schoolwork back into backpacks, and reconvened on the terrace. Conversation was muted at best, and the meal was quiet. In what was probably a record-breaking time, everyone had finished eating and was gathering weapons and spell books for the impending attack. Jesse finished attaching the new boat to Freak, Machaela checked with Jaz for first aid materials, and one by one everyone gathered on the roof, ready to defend the First Nome.

 **Two weeks since the last update. *Shrug* Sorry, I loose track of time when reviews don't remind me. Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter!**


	40. Chapter 40

Once Ra left with Sobek on the sun boat, the older trainees herded the younger ones into the new boat, which magically grew to accommodate their numbers. Julian, who Freak liked best when Carter was absent, took over guiding the griffin to the First Nome while the others tried to keep the ankle biters still. Finally, Jesse and Machaela started reviewing battle strategies and rules, which helped calm the younger ones down, though Shelby was still chattering about "killing the big ugly snake."

They came out of the Duat to find the pyramids deserted. Usually, tourists were everywhere, but not today. The deserted streets lead to empty pathways surrounding bereft photo opportunities.

"Where are all the people?" Bryan asked.

Machaela glanced over the edge from where she was helping one of the other ankle biters, Beth, get her coat off. "Hiding," she answered. "Can't you feel it? Apo—The snake isn't far off. He's sending off gradually increasing levels of fear. Probably timing it so that the battlefield will be free of mortal annoyances by the time he's ready to attack, which, going by the chaos level right now, will be soon. Bast, you want to stand guard?"

Bast already had her knives out. She stared out over the desert as the boat descended. "Use the zoo entrance," she told them distractedly. "You know where it is?"

Machaela nodded. "Of course. Be careful, Bast."

Focused on her mission, the cat goddess had already jumped from the boat before Machaela finished speaking.

With Jesse giving directions, Julian guided Freak around to the Giza zoo, where they set down near the lemurs. The little ones wanted to look at the animals, of course, but the older ones corralled everyone to follow Machaela and Jesse, who were opening the entrance.

Much like the airport entrance, this entrance was hidden behind a janitor's closet, and they edged and scooted their ways past and around lemur food and insect crates to enter the tunnel down into the nome. Calling up flashlights, they started making their way down, down, down towards the First Nome.

This tunnel was a bit taller than the airport entrance, so they didn't have to crouch, but it was longer and circled around itself a lot. By the time they reached the bottom, everyone was very tired of walking.

Finally, the tunnel opened up to a chasm, guarded by a _ba_. The siblings had seen their share of _bas_ over the years, and this one was no different. A large, glowing turkey body with wings tucked back held a human head. The human face was a bit fuzzy, as if they were looking through a foggy glass, but they didn't think much of it. Maybe the _ba_ was distracted because this entrance was rarely used, or maybe it was a new spirit that hadn't gotten used to its job yet. Machaela didn't stop to think on it, or even really notice it.

Following a formality shortcut they knew of, having lived there, Machaela stepped in front of everyone else.

Bowing to the _ba_ , she said, "I am Machaela, and we are the Twenty-First Nome, here to protect the First Nome from the impending rebel attack. I speak for them." She gestured toward the trainees at the last part.

"Machaela," the _ba_ replied. "It is noble of you to come defend the First Nome. Tell me, what is the one useable Divine Word even a natural with Divine Words would not dare use flippantly?"

Machaela allowed a small smile. " _Order_ , of course, for that requires a great deal of magic heightened by adrenaline."

"Very good. Nominate one from your group to answer the other challenge question."

Turning her head, but not her body, Machaela answered, "Jesse."

Jesse stepped up to stand next to her as the _ba_ spoke again. "Jesse, what color are the eyes of Horus?"

Jesse blinked in surprise, but answered, "That is a trick question, for each of Horus' eyes is a different color. The right is gold, and the left is silver."

"Very good. You may pass." Expecting the _ba_ to disappear, the siblings started to turn toward the others, to gesture to move forward, when suddenly a ripple passed through the air. The siblings jerked around to look, and a glamour fell off the _ba_.

 _That explains its weird appearance,_ Jesse thought for a moment. Then the _ba_ 's face clicked, and all other thoughts left his mind

Machaela and Jesse stared, shocked. "Is-Iskandar?" Machaela stuttered. Her eyes filled with tears. She tried to reach out, but Iskandar's _ba_ carefully avoided her hand, which was just as well. A _ba_ has no substance; her hand would have gone right through.

"Hello, my dear," he said.

Jesse stepped closer, fighting the impulse to reach out to the one they had called Grandpa. "Why did you leave us?" he managed, all the shock and the sadness resurfacing in a rush.

"I did not want to leave you," he told them, "but it was time for me to go."

"It was horrible timing!" Jesse protested. His voice quieted. "We needed you! Still do."

"Look at how far you have come. Your magic has grown in leaps and bounds. The Twenty-First Nome follows you without hesitation—"

"All that pales in comparison!" Machaela cut in. "You raised us! You're family! We needed you! Zia went missing for three months, Walt's dying, the snake is about to attack, rebel magicians are staging a revolt on the First Nome, and we lost our Grandpa!" By the end of her rant, tears streamed freely down her face, matching Jesse's.

Iskandar's eyes glistened in the torchlight. "I know, dear, but it was my time. I am lucky to be a guardian _ba_. When the Fates will the string to be cut…"

Jesse wiped at his cheeks. "So we are—?"

"Do not say it here, but yes, you are. I suspected for several years, but your Greek fluency confirms it. You will be the peacekeepers, the first in many generations who can bridge the pantheon gap. For tonight, though, focus on caring for your friends. Carter and Sadie have their own path, and things will not go according to plan. Fight for what is right, and do not lose hope." He looked each of them in their eyes, and they knew that if he had hands he would have tried to give them a hug. "I hope you know how proud I am of you, of both of you. You are about to make history, and your shadows will be large and dark." He looked about to say more, but he tilted his head, as if hearing a voice they couldn't hear. "I am out of time. Stay strong. Stay brave. Know I love you."

They both managed to get out those three words through their tears, and he was gone.

Machaela immediately turned and wrapped Jesse in a hug, which he returned, burying his head in her shoulder. Seeing Iskandar one last time felt so good but hurt so much. They finally broke the hug after a full minute and turned back to the others, only to find them frozen, unmoving.

"Guys?" Machaela asked, her voice steady despite her wet face. They didn't move, and Jesse snapped his fingers. Everyone jumped.

Shelby squawked something, drawing Julian's attention, but Cleo immediately looked past them, then at them.

"Where'd the _ba_ —wait, why is your face wet?"

Jesse had his back turned, obviously trying to dry his face without being seen, but Machaela just dried her face with her sleeve. "That _ba_ was Iskandar," she answered quietly. "He had a message for us."

"And just seeing him brought up all those emotions you thought you had conquered," Cleo finished. "It's alright. You need a tissue?"

"No, thanks. Let's just get across. Amos will need back up soon."

"How did you get us across without us answering a challenge?" Allyssa asked. "I thought Carter and Sadie said everyone gets challenged."

"I nominated myself spokesperson," she answered as the entered the nome. "By speaking for you all, I answered a question, then had to nominate one other to answer a question. Answering both questions got everyone in without the time of playing twenty-questions."

They arrived at the backdoor to the Hall of Ages as she finished explaining, and Jesse knocked on the door.

"Come in," came a voice from inside.

Everyone trouped in, with Cleo, Alyssa, and Julian corralling the little kids.

The door opened into an office adjoined to the war room. Amos sat at his desk.

"Hey, Amos," Machaela said. "Where do you want us?"

Amos just stared at them, apparently stunned they had come. "What are you all doing here? Shouldn't you be in Brooklyn?"

Jesse took one look at him and spoke up before Machaela could. "If you really think we'd sit out this battle in Brooklyn, Set is infecting your thoughts way too much. Maybe banish him from the room at least? He's not exactly hiding his presence."

"I resent that!" Set's disembodied voice said.

Machaela rolled her eyes, but grinned as she muttered a spell. With a hiss of annoyance, Set's presence receded.

Amos raised an eyebrow at her. "We were in the middle of a conference."

"Relax. You're hosting him; he knows your thoughts. You don't need to confer. Besides, it was just a simple spell. He can come back once we're through talking. Anyway, the numbskulls in Russia will probably attack soon. Where does your guard need reinforcements?"

Leaving the others near the door, he led them to the war room table and pulled out a map of the nome.

"The merchants and initiates are covering us here, here, and here," he told them, pointing out various entrances. "How about you send initiates to these seven entrances, and send the merchants at the last place to the Chamber of Birds' entrance."

"Ok," Machaela studied his map, Jesse leaning over her shoulder. "Don't we need guards at this entrance?" She pointed to the one directly across from the Hall of Ages' entrance.

Amos shook his head. "That one's still blocked off. If they enter through that, we'll have plenty of warning."

"You at least need someone in here with you," Jesse told him. "You shouldn't be alone."

He waved the comment off. "I'll be fine, and I need to keep up with the war map. We need to guard these other entrances."

Machaela and Jesse exchanged a look and nodded. "How about three per entrance, with two on watch at all times?"

At Amos' agreement, they went back to the group of trainees.

"Okay," Jesse started, "everyone but Cleo, Alyssa, Felix, and Jaz, get in groups of three to four. Each group must have at least one teenager. Pick people you can stay awake with all night. You'll be standing guard with them."

Machaela waited until everyone had stopped moving around, then took over, assigning each group a place to guard. A safe bet that the rebels would go for an entrance close to the Hall, the younger groups went to the furthest entrances. That way they wouldn't have to battle alone when the rebels attacked.

Once everyone else had been assigned, she turned to Cleo, Alyssa, Felix, and Jaz. "Jaz, you're our only healer, and I'm the only other one with even a little healing knowledge. You'll be at the second furthest entrance. Alyssa and Felix, are you alright going with her?" They nodded, and she turned to Cleo. "You okay with coming with us?" At Cleo's assent, Machaela gave the other group directions to their entrance, and they split up.

Machaela, Jesse, and Cleo took up stations at the closest open entrance to the Hall of Ages. Keeping the walkie-talkie on for alerts from the other teams, they settled in for the night. They chatted for a while, but when conversation slowed, Jesse pulled a deck of cards from the Duat, which they used to entertain themselves for the next several hours.

 **Thanks to Fus Ro Duh for the review :D you made me lol at 6am, which is no easy feat. Here's the next chapter, and I hope everyone enjoyed it!**


	41. Chapter 41

It was a quiet night. A few young initiates wandered around, and every now and then an older magician would make their way to the Hall to find Amos. More than once, Machaela and Jesse wondered if Sofia was there that night or if she was on a job somewhere, but they hadn't had time to ask. They had few false alarms as individuals came down the entrance tunnel. Each one claimed they were here to help and the lack of portals was making travel difficult. Machaela sent them all to Amos, who had probably assigned them an entrance to guard.

Well after midnight, when the trio had long given up on games and was taking turns catching a nap, a rumble passed through the ground.

"What's that?" Cleo asked. Jesse sat up from where he had been dozing.

The rumbling continued, getting stronger. Suddenly, Jesse was wide awake.

"The sealed entrance! Come on!"

He took off running, realizing the rebel force was blasting their way down the sealed tunnel. If they didn't get there first, Amos would be under attack with no back up.

The rumbling continued, getting closer to the Hall.

Machaela, a step behind the others, pulled out her walkie-talkie. "Everybody to the Hall!" she called into it. "Everybody to the Hall of Ages! They are forcing open the sealed entrance!"

That was all she had time to say. They dove into the tunnel, meeting the rebel force only thirty feet up.

"Oh no, you don't!" Replacing her walkie-talkie with her staff and wand, Machaela engaged the rebels without stopping to recognize faces.

Barely noticing Jesse and Cleo fighting on either side of her, nor the other initiates trickling in three at a time, Machaela let herself go on autopilot. Casting spells on instinct. Ducking, dodging, weaving through attack spells, and pushing back the attackers.

Fighting in the cramped tunnel was difficult, but they managed. One minute, Cleo and Alyssa were in the lead, flinging spells. Then Shelby shot to the front, whacking the enemy magicians with her spark-shooting crayons. Julian pulled her back and dove into battle, pushing them back with his twin _khopeshes_.

Machaela lost track of the time they fought, but they couldn't last very long facing uphill in the cramped quarters. Slowly but surely, the rebels got the upper hand. They were losing ground. Someone let out a grunt of pain, and she saw Jaz prop a boy against the wall. They were being pushed too quickly, though, and before Jaz had a chance to treat the injured boy, they were pushed well out of range.

The battle spilled into the open doorway, then into the corridor outside the Hall of Ages. Rebel magicians got past them and some went after Amos. The others blocked the trainees from reaching the Hall.

From the corner of her eye, Machaela saw someone else jump into the fray. Only ensuring they weren't attacking _her_ , she paid no attention to identity at first, much more focused on protecting Jesse's blind spots.

Then a rebel magician charged the newcomer from behind.

"Look out!" Machaela warned.

The person turned around, blocking the attack but cracking her staff in the process. Recognizing the person, Machaela allowed a small grin as she called up another staff from their stash in the Duat.

"Sofia! Catch!" A new staff flew through the air, landing in Sofia's outstretched hand in time for her to respond to the rebel magician's next attack. Machaela worked her way over, Jesse right behind her.

"Nice of you to join us!" she said teasingly.

"I was a bit busy avoiding the overgrown snake outside!" came Sofia's reply.

Machaela let out a laugh, despite beginning to tire. How long had they been fighting? "Did you notice Bast still out there?"

Sofia shot the younger girl a look. "The cat goddess? I wondered who that was. If she's supposed to be playing chicken with the snake, yes Bast is still out there."

Jesse chuckled. "Playing chicken with the snake. She'll _love_ that expression." Machaela snorted in suppressed laughter as she flung spells at rebel magicians. Bast would likely get offended at being compared to a bird. That made it more fun.

They continued exchanging conversation as they fought, but most of their focus returned to trying to break through the human barricade the rebels had formed in front of the door.

There were too many rebels, though, and Machaela's group was having trouble breaking through. The rebels had formed a wedge in front of the door, blocking help from reaching Amos. Inside the Hall, they could hear spells being thrown and people yelling, but they couldn't see how the battle was going. At least if the battle was still going, they knew Amos was still alive, but they needed to get to him.

Spells, weapons, attack, defend, they kept trying to break through the rebel defense. The hallway was a warzone, and the other magicians were dropping quickly. A merchant was thrown against a pillar, landing at the base in a crumpled heap. An older magician jumped in front of a spell aimed at a young initiate and collapsed from the impact, steaming rising from his skin. The battle separated them from Sofia, and they could only hope she wasn't injured.

* * *

Machaela wasn't sure if she dreaded dawn's arrival or looked forward to it. Would Apophis attack then? They hadn't seen a real attack yet, but that may be because of Bast. Would Carter and Sadie make it out of the Duat? Would Ra be back to full strength? How many of the trainees were injured? Looking around the battle, she could only see a few familiar faces. They were rather outnumbered by the rebel forces. It was a miracle they had lasted this long.

Ultimately, whether she dreaded or welcomed the dawn didn't matter, because she could feel it coming. Her watch said they had only minutes until sunrise.

The air changed. Magic rippled through the Duat. Strength flowed into her in a sensation she recognized from the battle last spring. The sun had risen. Soon they would know if Carter and Sadie were still alive.

At some point, Walt joined the battle, glowing with death magic. Lowering her vision into the Duat, Machaela saw Anubis standing in Walt's place, which explained how he was even alive. She honestly hadn't expected to see him again when he left with Carter. While his joining with Anubis was a bit…unsettling, if it kept him alive, she would welcome it.

He quickly fought his way to the front and became their main fighter against the rebels. His extra magical firepower went a long ways toward cowing the wedge blocking the door. Most of the rebels turned their focus to him, only to be encased in mummy linen, be thrown down the hall, or watch their wands turn to ash in their hands.

Fatim jumped from the crowd of rebels, making himself a target even as he tried to attack Jesse. Her restored magic flowing through her, she let a Divine Word flow instinctively. _Repel and protect_ glowed in the air, sending Fatim flying into a nearby pillar. Dazed, he collapsed into a heap behind his allies.

Something flew by her head. She reflexively ducked and turned to see a wand, flying like a boomerang, smack into a bearded Russian man who had been harassing Julian. The man disappeared in a flash, and a small, terrified hamster squeaked in alarm and scurried away.

"About time!" Julian said.

Machaela glanced over to see to whom he was talking and grinned. Carter waded forward through the crowd, swinging what she recognized (amidst a fair amount of awe) as the crook and flail. Sadie, glowing with the power of Isis, cast spells and turned several rebel magicians into banana slugs.

With Carter and Sadie leading the charge, they quickly waded through the mob of rebels to Walt, who was nearly finished unblocking the doors. A final sweep of his hand shrank the remaining enemies and rose canopic jars around them, encasing the tiny magicians in the jars typically used to store a mummy's internal organs. The rebels didn't like that too much, and Machaela had to suppress a laugh when she heard their tiny voices screaming to let them out. Several rattled and moved inside their jar, making the jars wobble like an off-balance bowling pin.

Walt turned away from the wobbling pins. "Is everyone alright?" At everyone's nod, he continued, "Get ready. They've sealed the doors, but I can—" His voice faltered, his eyes on Sadie.

He started to talk, but she interrupted him. "Something about opening the doors?" she demanded.

He nodded.

"Amos is in there?" she continued. "Fighting Kwai and Jacobi and who knows what else?"

He nodded again.

"Then stop staring and _open the doors_ , you annoying boy!" Well, Sadie certainly wasn't squeamish about Walt hosting Anubis. She talked to him/them as she always had.

Walt/Anubis smiled at her, making her raise an eyebrow at him, before he turned to the doors. Gray ash spread across the bronze surface in response to his touch, and the doors crumbled.

Sadie led the charge into the Hall of Ages, while Machaela and Jesse ended up somewhere in the middle of the crowd. Inside, they found Amos fighting Jacobi, Kwai, and several other rebels with only Set as backup, which didn't surprise them.

What halted their charge, though, was the battle method. They hadn't expected a lightning-charged knife ballet. Amos hovered in the middle of the Hall, and avatar of sandstorm and fire swirling around him. Unlike the other avatars they'd seen, Amos' was actually more Set than avatar, and Set was having a blast, laughing and fighting with careless force. While somewhat directing Set's attacks, it seemed Amos was more focused on preventing Set from killing everyone in range.

Kwai's bald head shone in the magic light, combining with his blue robes to make him easy to spot. He flew around, defying gravity as usual and shooting blue lights at Set, but they didn't seem to have much effect.

Only the spiky black hat was missing in Sarah Jacobi's Schizophrenic Wicked Witch of the West getup. Surfing on storm clouds, she rode around the Hall throwing her black knives like she was desperately trying to impress an audience at the circus with her juggling act. Each throw of her blades disrupted the avatar a bit more, slowly wearing it down, sucking the life out of it.

Several other rebels ran or flew around the Hall, each throwing various style attacks, though why one fat man thought throwing chunks of cheese was a good idea, Machaela had no idea. Amos/Set wasn't even paying attention to him. Shabtis flew through the air, changing into lions, tigers, and bears (oh, my) among other animals. They weren't making much headway, but they were very persistent.

Set slammed his staff into Kwai, sending the blue-clad pervert flying into the Roman Age holographs. Kwai collapsed to the ground with smoke coming from his ears as Set turned to the Cheese Master. Cheddar boy screamed as he was swallowed in a roaring sandstorm, but Set quickly retracted his hand, leaving the man unconscious but alive.

"Bah!" Set bellowed. "Come on, Amos, let me have _some_ fun. I only wanted to strip the flesh from his bones!"

Amos didn't respond, clearly concentrating. They had many more enemies to play with.

"Pull!" The Red Lord shot lightning at Jacobi's stone sphinx, turning it to dust. Laughing insanely, he swatted at her with his staff. "This is fun, little magicians! Don't you have any more tricks?"

Machaela had no idea how long they stood there just watching the battle, but it probably wasn't any more than a few seconds. She and Jesse were about to jump in when Jaz choked back a sob.

"Amos…he's possessed again."

"No," Sadie insisted. "No, this is different! He's in control."

The others stared at her in disbelief. Apparently, they had already forgotten finding Set in Amos' office, or perhaps they just couldn't see that Amos was holding the god back. It was rather hard to figure who was in control if you didn't know what to look for.

Recognizing that Carter and Sadie were the leaders now that they were back, Machaela and Jesse waited for orders.

"Look at him!" Sadie admonished. "We have to help him! Amos isn't possessed. He's controlling Set!"

Walt didn't agree. "Sadie, that—that's impossible. Set can't be controlled."

"Obviously he _can_ be, because Amos is doing it." Carter raised the weapons of the pharaoh. "Now, are we going to war, or what?"

That finally got the others moving, but they'd been spotted. Their element of surprised was gone.

"Now!" Jacobi yelled.

 **I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, and don't forget to review!**

 **Thank you to Youngid, Fus Ro Duh, and Guest for your reviews!**

 **Youngid: no plans on pairings for now, though some foundations have been set for possible pairings in the future.**

 **Fus Ro Duh: Of course I listened! and the reviews on the last chapter helped me remember to update today :D**


	42. Chapter 42

That finally got the others moving, but they'd been spotted. Their element of surprised was gone.

"Now!" Jacobi yelled.

However evil she was, she was smart, which is even more dangerous. Their attack vamped up. Kwai, now awake from his introduction to the Roman Age, blasted lightning at Amos' face as the other magicians threw rope at the Set avatar.

Before they could reach the battle, Amos' avatar staggered, then shrank as Sarah Jacobi lassoed Set's head with a long black lariat. Quicker than they could react, Amos had been bound in magic ropes, and Jacobi had one of her black _netjeri_ blades pressed against his neck.

"Stop!" she commanded them. "This ends _now_!"

"No!" Sadie yelled, but she seemed to be having trouble moving.

Carter tried to form an avatar, but failed immediately. "Come on, Horus! We _have_ to help."

Machaela and Jesse weren't sure what was going on with Carter and Sadie, but they started trying to maneuver around behind the enemy. Not hosting gods, they may not be able to do much, but they had full House of Life training. They should be able to do _something_.

Jacobi laughed, sounding like hot, dry metal scraping on steel.

"Do you see?" She pulled the lariat tight around Amos' neck, like a noose. " _This_ is what comes from the path of the gods! Confusion. Chaos. _Set_ himself in the Hall of Ages! Even you misguided fools cannot deny this is wrong!"

Amos clawed at his throat, growling in anger, but Set's voice spoke, "I try to do something nice, and _this_ is my thanks? You should have let me kill them Amos!"

Sadie stepped forward, trying to garner Jacobi's attention without an attack. "Jacobi, you don't understand. Amos is channeling Set's power, but he's in control. He could have killed you, but he didn't. Set was a lieutenant of Ra. He's a useful ally, properly managed."

Set snorted in amusement. "Useful, yes! I don't know about the _properly managed_ business. Let me go, puny magicians, so I can crush you!"

Sadie glared at him hard enough he nearly cowered, which looked weird on Amos. "Set! Not helping!"

Amos' expression changed to concern, showing he was back in control. "Sadie! Go: fight Apophis. Leave me here!"

"No," she replied firmly, her mind made up. "You're the Chief Lector. We'll fight for the House of Life."

Machaela saw Jacobi sneer, but she was more focused on edging her way into position.

"Your uncle is a servant of Set!" Jacobi growled in reply. "You and your brother are sentenced to death. The rest of you, lay down your weapons. As your new Chief Lector, I will give you amnesty. Then we will battle Apophis together."

Machaela allowed a small snort to escape at the ludicrous offer. As if Jacobi would do anything less than slaughter them all.

Sadie had apparently had enough, too. "You're in _league_ with Apophis!" she pointed out.

Oh, Jacobi didn't like that. Her face turned even colder than it had been already. "Treason." She pointed her staff toward Sadie. " _Ha-di_."

Machaela tried to help, but being in position to attack Jacobi had left her with no vantage point to protect Sadie. With Sadie and Isis apparently having issues, Sadie was defenseless. The explosion ripped through whatever shield she managed to raise and threw her backward into the Age of the Gods hologram. She collapsed to the ground, dazed and smoking.

"Sadie!" Carter tried to run to her, but Kwai blasted him back with red lightning ( _red?_ Jesse thought. _He had blue a minute ago_ ), knocking him to his knees.

Jaz ran to Carter as several of the ankle biters screamed.

"Give up," Jacobi said, her words of power rippling through the air, making it difficult to think or do anything other than what the words suggested. Jesse nearly dropped his sword. "The Kanes have brought you nothing but trouble. It's time this ended."

She removed her blade from Amos' neck and threw it at Sadie. Machaela saw in an instant it wouldn't miss, but she was too far to help. Jesse pushed through the fog of the words of power and tried to hit the blade with his sword, but he was much too slow.

A shadow crossed in front of him, and a bare hand snatched the blade midair, crumbing it to dust. Jacobi drew her second knife as Walt stood between her and Sadie.

"Who are you?" she demanded, looking slightly scared.

"Walt Stone," he answered, his voice hard in controlled anger, "blood of the pharaohs. And Anubis, god of the dead." He moved over slightly, positioning himself more between Sadie and everyone else. "We speak with one voice. Especially on this matter. _No one_ harms Sadie Kane."

He thrust out his hands and death magic rippled through the Duat, making Machaela fight back a cringe. The floor split open at Sarah Jacobi's feet, and souls of the dead sprang up all around. Skeletal hands, glowing faces, fanged shadows, and evil _ba_ sprang at Jacobi, tore at her, wrapped her in ghostly linen, and dragged her kicking and screaming into the abyss. The floor sealed behind her, not even leaving a crack.

The black noose on Amos slackened, and Set's voice cackled, "That's my boy!"

"Shut up, Father," Anubis told him, his brown eyes glowing with more anger than Machaela had ever seen on Walt's face.

Sadie still looked dazed, but Jaz helped Carter to his feet.

"Magicians!" Carter somehow managed to stand tall and confident, despite a burned shirt and several marks on his face. "We're wasting time. Apophis is above, about to destroy the world. A few brave gods are holding him back for _our_ sakes, for the sake of Egypt and the world of mortals, but they can't do it alone. Jacobi and Kwai led you astray. Unbind the Chief Lector. We _have_ to work together."

Kwai snarled, and Machaela prepared a spell to use.

"Never," Kwai said. "We do not bow to gods."

Sadie managed to rise. "Listen to my brother. You don't trust the gods? They are already helping us. Meanwhile, Apophis wants us to fight one another. Why do you think your attack was timed for this morning, at the same moment Apophis is rising? Kwai and Jacobi have sold you out. The enemy is right in front of you!"

Machaela was impressed. Sadie could speak well when she wanted to. Even the rebels looked to Kwai, expecting an answer. The remaining ropes fell away from Amos.

"You're too late," Kwai sneered, his voice humming with power. Previously blue, his robes turned blood red. His eyes glowed, and his pupils turned to reptilian slits. Machaela and Jesse took defensive stances: Apophis had fully possessed Kwai.

"Even now, my master destroys the old gods, sweeping away the foundations of your world." Kwai's voice even had an underlying hiss of a snake. "He will swallow the sun. All of you will die."

Amos stood. Red sand swirled around him, but there was no doubt that _Amos_ was in control now. His white Chief Lector robes shimmered with power, and the leopard-skin cape gleamed. He held out his staff, and multitudes of multicolored hieroglyphs filled the air.

"House of Life: to war!"

At his words, Machaela released all at once several spells that she had held in reserve. Kwai was pounded from all sides with multiple attack spells, but they didn't seem to bother him.

He sent a chain of red lightning around the room, bouncing from one person to the next. Seeing it coming, Machaela threw up a _protect_ spell around herself and Jesse. Upon hitting it, the lightning grew in intensity, pounding at Machaela's spell reserves. Across the room, Jaz collapsed, then Julian, then Felix and his penguins. Cleo, Alyssa, even the rebels. One by one, all the magicians not hosting gods crumpled from the onslaught. Her spell barely contested the power of Apophis, and within seconds, the lightning had broken through Machaela's spell. Darkness overwhelmed her.

 **Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. Don't forget to review!**

 **Panemat: well, do you consider reviews a spell? :D**


	43. Chapter 43

She woke to find Amos leaning over her. He offered a hand to help her up, making sure she was alright and updating her on what she'd missed in the span of a couple sentences.

After assuring him that she was fine, she turned to find Jesse, only for him to be right next to her. Looking around the room, all of the initiates were in the process of standing up, and most were looking at Sadie, who was just beginning to stir in Walt's arms.

According to Amos, Sadie had yet again summoned Ma'at, and Machaela shook her head. Sadie was certainly a powerful magician to be able to cast such a spell, even with Isis' help, and Machaela could admit, if only to herself, that she was jealous. Her heritage and training, plus her affinity, made her a very good magician in spell casting, but she doubted she would ever achieve summoning Ma'at (not that she wanted there to be a do-or-die moment). She knew it was selfish, but she wanted that magic strength. She wanted to get better, but this particular path was closed, going against her very foundation. Her foundational faith rooted her in the Lord, and He would protect her from possession, including hosting an Egyptian god or goddess that could take her over in a full possession.

Suffice to say, there were times she wished there were other, non-possessive methods of becoming the Eye of a god. Never, though, did she _ever_ wish she hadn't given her life to Christ.

Sadie finally came around, and Amos helped her to her feet. Carter gave her a giant hug, probably trying to reassure himself that Jacobi hadn't killed her.

"It's not over," he told her. "We have to get to the surface. Are you ready?"

She nodded that she was, though her face said a bit differently. She tried to hide it, but she was still drained from summoning Ma'at, crashing against the holograms, and her other battles.

"Carter," Amos said formally. "You are blood of the pharaohs, Eye of Horus. You carry the crook and flail, bestowed by Ra. The kingship is yours. Will you lead us, gods and mortals, against the enemy?"

Carter looked slightly nervous, but he stood straight, hiding his fear and showing a great deal of bravery. "I'll lead you," he answered, "but the throne will have to wait. Right now, Ra needs us. We have to get to the surface. Can you show us the quickest way?"

Amos nodded, asking, "And the rest of you?"

Machaela and Jesse joined everyone, even the former rebels, in shouting. Of course they would continue the fight! They hadn't won yet!  
"We aren't many," Walt pointed out. Jesse nodded as Walt continued, "What are your orders, Carter?"

"First we get reinforcements. It's time I summoned the gods to war."

Carter decided that was best done from the surface, so, with Amos in the lead, they left the First Nome through a tunnel exiting the Chief Lector's office. It ended halfway up the side of Khafre's pyramid, and they stared at the carnage below.

Even with nearly fifteen years of Jesse spouting off vocabulary words at every opportunity, Machaela still couldn't find a word to describe the chaos snake. To say he was massive would be like saying the sun is a small ball of flaming gas or saying Omniscient, Almighty God knows a few things. The chaos level she had noted when the trainees arrived had increased exponentially, and the only visible part of the snake, a writhing head of sandstorm and lightning, could look down at the tops of the pyramids and towered over the four furiously battling gods.

Sobek, the crocodile god, straddled Apophis's back, clamping down over and over with his powerful crocodile jaws. Even though his attacks connected, Apophis didn't seem to notice him there.

The dwarf god, Bes, danced around in his Speedo, swinging a wooden club and yelling "BOO!" so loudly there was no chance of any mortal coming outside. Carter and Sadie had mentioned him in their recording about the previous spring, how the dwarf god excelled at scaring off demons. Unfortunately, Apophis didn't look very scared. Sandy, yes, but not scared.

She finally spotted Bast, who was definitely playing chicken with the snake. She leaped onto Apophis's head, slashing wildly with her knives, then jumped free before the snake could shake her off. Not even her attacks were garnering much attention.

Apophis only seemed interested in one target: Zia.

Standing between the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx, Zia Rashid was surrounded in an intense golden light. Machaela couldn't look directly at her, but she seemed to be shooting balls of fire like a Roman candle. Each flaming orb exploded against Apophis, disrupting his form and managing to anger him further. He retaliated by biting at Zia, who was very obviously hosting Ra, and taking chunks out of the desert. Zia/Ra had some kind of shifting/mirage-like spell going, though, as Apophis's attacks were always a few feet off target.

They didn't know how long she had been doing this—maybe since dawn—, but she definitely couldn't do it forever. All the gods' aura's were weakening, while Apophis only got larger.

"What do we do?" Jaz asked. Her eyes never left the snake, and she was obviously nervous.

"Wait for my signal," Carter told her.

"Which is what?" Sadie asked.

"I don't know yet. I'll be back."

Carter closed his eyes, and, in the Duat, Machaela saw a glow shoot skyward. Carter had apparently sent his _ba_ to the throne room. His eyes stayed closed for a long minute as his facial expression changed slightly, showing he was having conversations with the gods.

Finally, the glow returned to earth, and Carter opened his eyes. Above their pyramid, storm clouds gathered, then parted with a clap of thunder, reminding Jesse of a chapter in Revelations. The gods charged into battle—some in warships, some in chariots, some on falcons, and some simply with large, dangerous weapons in their hands. The baboon god, Babi, landed on the Great Pyramid and pounded his chest with an echoing howl.

"How's that for a signal?" Carter asked Sadie with a grin. She rolled her eyes, but couldn't hide her own grin at having so many more allies.

* * *

Making her way down the pyramid, Machaela saw the world begin to fracture, and she realized the snake wasn't just coiling through the desert, but also through different layers of the Duat. Reality splintered into many layers, and people began to split up. Apophis began isolating gods and magicians both, with some sinking further into the Duat than others. Everyone fought the same enemy, but each person only faced a fraction of the total power.

Off to one side, Paul parried away one version of the snake's tail with a combination of spells and a _kopis_. Several yards away, Alyssa was glowing with the power of Geb, and she had sand and earth swirling around her, protecting her from Apophis while trying to capture a see-through version of his head in an earthen mound. Several yards away, Julian had summoned a full Horus avatar and was fighting the serpent's tail, his dual _khopeshes_ swinging and lashing to prevent the tail from impaling him.

Machaela turned to find her brother—they needed to stay together—and her heart raced when she couldn't see him. After several (very scary) seconds, she concluded he was already fighting out of her line of sight, maybe deeper in the Duat.

She was alone.

Turning back to face Apophis, this thought nearly overwhelmed her. She had _never_ been alone in something this big. Her brother had always been right next to her, ready to fight together and watch her back. Could she do this alone?

She stopped that thought process right there, getting mad at herself. _Of course_ , she could do this! She wasn't some pansy who relied on her brother to do everything with her. She was seventeen, not five, for goodness' sake!

She charged one version of the snake's middle, reviewing her thought process, and realized something that angered her further. Those thoughts had not been her own. Even without speaking, the chaos snake had the ability to alter her thoughts, convince her to give up. As if _that_ would ever happen! No, she would fight beside or separate from her brother, and if it had to be separate, then she would dive in that much further so she could see her brother afterwards!

She threw another spell, not even realizing her anger had made her start to glow.

 **Happy Monday. Ok, yes I know that's an oxymoron, but I hope you enjoyed the chapter.**

 **I wasn't planning to update til tomorrow, but Fus Ro Duh, yet again, managed to get me to laugh at 6am with a review, so here you go :D**


	44. Chapter 44

Upon reaching the base of the pyramid, Jesse already knew Apophis was fracturing reality. All around him, his friends sunk to varying levels of the Duat, several of which he had problems seeing. Walt tried to force his way out of Apophis's coil at the base of the pyramid. Little Shelby threw exploding crayons at a see-through tail, screaming all the while about the big, evil snake. Even battle-shy Cleo had jumped in head first, firing Divine Words at the snake, each of them striking one version of the snake's middle. They didn't do much damage, and Apophis was beginning to coil around her, which made Jesse worry for her more than he thought he should. She would be fine, right?

Knowing they needed to stay together, he reached over to grab Machaela, only to spin around in surprise when she wasn't next to him. He struggled to look through the Chaos distortion, but he could just see her standing there, still taking in the battle and trying to decide where to go. He could see her there, but when he tried to grab her hand, his went right through. They were already on different levels of the Duat.

Right then, her head snapped around, looking for him. He could see her lips moving as she called for him, and the glimmer of fear in her eyes when she couldn't find him. He must be much, much deeper in the Duat than her, if she wasn't able to see him at all. Slightly worried, he watched as she searched for a few seconds, then realized they would fight alone. She froze for a full ten seconds as that thought struck her, and the Chaos distortion around her got thicker. Quickly, though, she shook herself, and the distortion lifted. Her expression turned angry, and she charged the snake. In spite of current events, Jesse had to let out a chuckle when she didn't even realize she glowed with magic.

A whisper of instinct sounded off, and he spun, drawing his _kopis_ at the same time. _Clang_! Apophis's tail bounced off his _kopis_ with a strangely metallic sound that echoed through the Duat layers. His focus filled with parry, strike, block, strike, repeat. How could they defeat something so huge?

Across the snake tail, Jesse could see where Apophis's head was, and he seemed to be on nearly the same Duat level. Around preventing the tail from impaling him, he could see Zia standing in the middle of the storm, unaffected by the swirling sandstorm that made it hard for him to see. She continued throwing fireballs, and each one made Apophis hesitate before striking. Each strike missed.

Until one didn't.

Two more figures appeared next to Zia in the eye of the storm, and, just for a moment, she was distracted.

Bad idea.

Apophis was unaffected by this round of fire, and he took full advantage of her momentary distraction. Faster than Jesse could follow, especially with his attention split between battling and watching, Apophis struck.

When he rose, only two figures stood in the eye, and a glowing, human-sized lump travelled down Apophis' throat.

Jesse's heart lurched, not only for the loss of a dear friend, but also because they'd just lost the war. Apophis had swallowed the sun. Doomsday had arrived.

Carter staggered back from the snake, holding his crook and flail loosely and looking defeated.

"As it was foretold!" Apophis spoke aloud, and his voice grated at Jesse's ears like a screech of steel and chalk grinding on a metal chalkboard. With Apophis's tail not moving at the moment, he took the opportunity to check if his ears were bleeding.

The earth shook, and cracks opened and spread across the desert like breaking thin ice. The previously sunny sky turned black, lit only by stars and bolts of red lighting. The temperature plummeted, and Jesse began to shiver.

"You cannot cheat destiny, Carter Kane! I have swallowed Ra. Now the end of the world is at hand!"

Sadie fell to her knees, and a wave of despair swept over their forces. Gods and magicians all around him stopped battling as fear took over. Chaos had won. The earth was falling apart. He couldn't even see his sister anymore.

Shock and fear rolled through him. He was going to die here. They all would, and the rest of the world right behind them. He would never reunite with his family…

" _Stay strong. Stay brave. Know I love you."_ Iskandar's goodbye rang through his head. " _Stay strong. Stay brave. Know I love you."_ He had a reason to fight. He could stay strong. He wouldn't give up. He would fight to his last breath.

In the eye of the storm, Carter and Sadie held up a statue, and all Chaos broke loose.

Jesse jumped back into the battling, fighting with everything he had, while all around him, the temperature kept dropping, crevices widened in the ground, and red lightning danced across the sky.

He parried the pointed tail tip away and hazarded a glance at Carter and Sadie. Gold and blue light swirled around the two siblings, and the statue in their hands steamed in the cold air. In front of them, Bast and Bes harried the snake, keeping Apophis busy and protecting Sadie and Carter. Apophis threw Bast outside of the eye against a stone block to Jesse's right, and Bes roared in anger. He attacked, and ended up hanging from one of Apophis' fangs, desperately trying not to get bitten. Apophis slung his head, dislodging Bes and throwing him over the Great Pyramid.

Apophis turned back to the siblings, but he was too late. The statue flared, dissolving in their hands as Apophis roared. An explosive wave of darkness shot out form the siblings, knocking Jesse off his feet and away from Apophis's tail, which was now starting to dissolve.

"Shortsighted mortals!" Apophis tried to roar, but he writhed and began to shrink. "You haven't just killed me. You've exiled the gods!"

Something in the back of Jesse's mind chimed that that wasn't a bad thing, but he didn't have time to think on that as the Duat collapsed, layer on layer, until the desert was one level of reality again. Jesse looked around in a daze, the real world looking unreal after the battle they had just fought. He barely noticed the absence of the gods, focusing more on the other magicians.

Chaos hissed as he continued to dissolve. "Ma'at and Chaos are linked, you fools! You cannot push me away without pushing away the gods. As for Ra, he shall die within me, slowly digested—"

His head exploded, cutting his sentence (and his body) short. Flaming bits of reptile body flew everywhere, which was just as gross as it sounds. A ball of fire rolled up from what remained of Apophis's neck, and Zia Rashid stepped out of the ball of sand and steaming goo that had once been the Chaos snake.

She was exhausted, her dress in tatters (when had she put on a dress?) and she clutched a cracked golden staff in her hand. Carter ran to her, and she collapsed into his arms. She was alive, though. That's what matters.

Jesse's attention was drawn from Zia when another figure rose from the smoking ruins of Chaos.

Ra shimmered like a hologram as he grew to his full godly height, some thirty feet tall. He looked much different from when Jesse had last seen him at Brooklyn House. Instead of a doddering, senile old man, he looking like the world's buffest, most golden grandpa with gold skin, kingly robes, and the pharaoh's double crown. He stepped fully out of the ruins and the sun returned to the sky, lifting the temperature back to normal. The crevices in the ground sealed themselves.

He smiled down at Carter. "Well done, Carter and Sadie. Now, I must withdraw as the other gods have done, but I owe you my life."

"Withdraw?" Carter's voice was deeper than normal, showing how much he had matured in the duration of the war. It was also gravelly, showing his exhaustion. "You mean…forever?"

Ra chuckled, somehow reminding Jesse of Iskandar. "When you're as old as I am, you learn to be careful with the word _forever_. I thought I was leaving forever the first time I abdicated. For a while, at least, I must retreat into the sky. My old enemy Apophis was not wrong. When Chaos is pushed away, the gods of order, Ma'at, must also distance themselves. Such is the balance of the universe."

"Then…you should take these."

He tried to hand over the crook and flail, but Ra shook his head. "Keep them for me. You are the rightful pharaoh. And take care of my favored one…" He nodded at Zia, who still looked pretty dazed. "She will recover, but she will need support."

Light flared around Ra, making it impossible to look at him. When it faded, he was gone, and the two dozen weary magicians were alone on the plains of Giza, staring at a smoking, serpent-shaped burn mark in the desert.

 **Fus Ro Duh, thanks for the reviews. Even just one in the week will remind me to update, though I grinned at your second one, and my preferred day is Tuesday :D Thank you for the complement. It means a lot to me.**

 **I would love to hear what everyone else thinks, so please review!**


	45. Chapter 45

As the adrenaline left, the rest of the day blurred. Machaela finally found Jesse, tackling him in hug as they checked each other for injuries, just as they had always done after every battle. They helped injured magicians to the healing rooms, and though Machaela wanted to help, there were other much more experienced healers able to do better than she could. Eventually, they had nothing left to do.

Sticking together, they wandered through all their old favorite places, watching the number of people grow exponentially. Now that portals were working again, magicians from every nome were arriving to pledge their support and help clean up. Machaela knew that Apophis had done his best to divide and conquer, and that the other nomes had been under attack as well, but she still found it hard not to feel bitter about it. Figures everyone would show up _after_ all the hard work was done.

The trainees had scattered around the First Nome. Julian was flirting with a few girls from the Scandinavian nome. Alyssa and several earth elementalists were reinforcing the buildings, mostly to prevent the Hall of Ages from collapsing. Shelby led the ankle biters around in pranking the older kids and claiming to have killed the snake by herself.

Finally, they found who they had been looking for. Well, she found them.

"Machaela! Jesse!"

The turned to find Sofia hurrying toward them, and she crushed them in a hug.

"Where have you been?!" Machaela demanded. "We've been looking everywhere for you!"

"The first part of the battle separated us," Jesse picked up, "and you weren't part of the battle in the throne room."

"I wasn't," she agreed, "but I joined you all on the way topside and fought up there. I couldn't find you afterwards, though, and started getting worried. I'm so glad you're alright!"

She wrapped them in another hug, and they felt some tension leave her shoulders. She had been like a mother to them since just after the crash, and, while they refused to give her a title that still belonged to another, they loved her like family, and she them. Machaela and Jesse were simply glad they hadn't lost another family member.

They were telling her about seeing Iskandar at the nome entrance when the gongs sounded, summoning everyone to the Hall of Ages.

Inside, there were so many magicians they found the Hall to be standing room only. Considering how spacious the Hall was, and that it was constantly growing, Jesse soon stopped trying to figure out how many people had fit in there. Some wore traditional robes, some had a mixture of jeans and Egyptian clothes, some had armor on, and others wore fuzzy pajamas, as if they'd portalled straight out of bed. Machaela had to laugh at one mage who had cartoon lightning bolts on his flannel pajamas and bunny ears on his slippers.

Her laughter faded, though, as she looked around the Hall. Excepting the battle, which she didn't really count, she hadn't been in this room since before Iskandar had died. No longer so deep in her grief, she didn't tear up, but a rush of memories swept over her just looking at this room. Bantering with Iskandar about the holograms, tag-teaming him about his rescue mission to Zia's village, trying to hide from him behind the curtains, trying to catch and copy the hieroglyphs that always filled this room—and the air around him. Years and years of memories accumulated in and related to this room, most of them connected to Iskandar. Many of those had been in lessons, and were hers only to remember, which both added weight and happiness, if that made any sense. She glanced at one of the holograms in the Modern Age and grinned as it showed Iskandar teaching a young girl how to build a shabti. She would forever find comfort in this room.

They wandered through the crowd and started making small talk with some magicians. Machaela and Jesse already knew many around the room, but they made a few new friends too.

After several minutes of quiet conversation, a hush spread over the crowd, and heads turned toward the door. People parted, leaving Carter and Sadie a clear path to the throne.

Carter and Sadie walked side by side, heads held high, though Sadie couldn't quite hide it as she scanned the crowd, probably looking for Walt, who had disappeared after the battle. Carter whispered something to her, but she shushed him, and they reached the steps, where Amos waited for them.

He'd changed his outfit again, now wearing a crimson suit the same shade as the sand in Zia's home village. It went surprisingly well with his leopard-skin cape, and it was obvious he was playing up his connection to Set. He had braided garnets into his hair, and his glasses had the slightest red tint. Never before had the Chief Lector had the god of evil, strength, and Chaos on speed dial. That would either make things easier, or much harder, only time would tell. Magicians respected strength, but that could also make people trust him less.

"Carter and Sadie," he started, smiling at them as they reached the steps, "on behalf of the House of Life, I thank you. You have restored Ma'at! Apophis has been execrated, and Ra has once again risen into the heavens, but this time in triumph. Well done!"

Machaela and Jesse joined in as the hall echoed with cheers, and several, including Machaela, used spells to send up fireworks.

Amos enveloped them in a hug, then stepped aside and gestured Carter to the throne.

Carter hesitated at first, staring at the pharaoh's seat. Sadie nudged him, and he looked nervous as he walked towards the chair, probably wondering whether he would make a good pharaoh, or maybe just concerned about the chair collapsing beneath him. That would be funny for Machaela and Jesse, but pretty embarrassing for Carter.

He eased himself into the throne, which held up, and stared over the crowd. His nervousness left him, and, after a glance at the purple glow of the New Age, he found his words.

"I accept the throne." He held up the crook and flail. "Ra has given me authority to lead the gods and magicians in times of crisis, and I'll do my best. Apophis has been banished, but the Sea of Chaos is always there. I've seen it with my own eyes. Its forces will always try to erode Ma'at. We can't think that all our enemies are gone." The crowd stirred nervously, and he continued, "But for now, we are at peace. We can rebuild and expand the House of Life. If war comes again, I'll be here as the Eye of Horus and as pharaoh. But as Carter Kane…" He stood, placed the crook and flail on throne, and stepped off the dais. "As Carter Kane, I'm a kid who has a lot of catching up to do. I've got my own nome to run at Brooklyn House. And I've got to graduate from high school. So I'm going to leave the day-to-day operations where they should be—in the hands of the Chief Lector, steward of the pharaoh, Amos Kane."

Amos bowed to him, which Carter didn't look too enthused about, as the crowd applauded loudly. Many voiced relief that he wouldn't be giving daily orders from the throne, and said that made it easier to follow him, but most approved of Carter being pharaoh and supported him.

After giving them both another hug, Amos ushered Carter and Sadie to a door of darkness that had opened to the side of the dais, and they portalled away as the crowded Hall started to empty.

* * *

Getting back into the swing of normal life felt…weird. After hugging Sofia goodbye and promising to keep in touch, Machaela and Jesse had gathered the other trainees at a relic, where Machaela called up a portal to Brooklyn House.

Arriving on the roof midafternoon, most trainees grabbed some food and flopped somewhere, many falling asleep in exhaustion. Machaela managed to convince one of the college-aged trainees, Jacob, to look after the others, and she and Jesse went upstairs.

Jesse went to his room for a nap—everyone was tired from the battle—but Machaela reorganized her emergency kit before laying down. They only slept until dinnertime, though, and managed to stay up until a normal bedtime that night, after Carter and Sadie had returned then left again through a different portal.

The siblings struggled to settle back into a school mindset the next day, especially as they were normally the ones in charge when Carter and Sadie were away. They were just as scatterbrained as everyone else, but they were the ones expected to keep the younger kids in line. With no adults around, nobody harped on finishing homework, and Jesse had to shake his head knowing just how many assignments were blown off over the weekend. Not that he could blame them this time, though. Who wants to do something as mundane as homework after battling the Chaos snake? Most trainees could be found in the training room that weekend, unable to sit still and burning off excess adrenaline.

Amos was apparently thinking of Brooklyn House in the days following the battle, as Machaela woke to a very familiar smell four days later. Thinking she was dreaming, she smiled and rolled over, trying to stay there. She hadn't smelled fresh made-from-scratch chocolate chip pancakes since she lived in the First Nome…She was unable to go back to sleep, however, and couldn't hide a slight pout at waking, until she realized the scent didn't fade as she woke. It got stronger!

Her eyes shot open as the memory registered, and she bolted out of bed and down the stairs, knocking on Jesse's door as she ran past. Could it be? There was no way…

But it was. A familiar Italian melody drifted from the kitchen, and she froze in the doorway.

"Sofia!" she cried, darting across the room and nearly knocking over the flour in her haste to wrap Sofia in a hug.

Sofia laughed and returned Machaela's hug, probably getting flour on her in the process. Machaela didn't care.

"What are you doing here?" Machaela asked as Jesse darted into the room to give Sofia a hug.

"Well, the Chief Lector decided that there needed to be a few adult chaperones, I mean teachers, to watch over Brooklyn House, and I might have mentioned a few times how proud I am of you two coming here. He asked me if I wanted to move here to serve as a teacher and help with the younger kids, and I jumped on it."

"But what about your jobs around the nomes?" Jesse asked. "You love those."

Sofia looked away, turning back to her pancake mix as she answered lightly, "Oh, I'm alright. I'm getting too old for that anyway."

Machaela looked harder at Sofia and, while she could hear the slight fib in Sofia's answer—she certainly _didn't_ like giving up her job—it also had a ring of truth. Machaela had never noticed before, but Sofia had grey in her hair. Machaela still pictured Sofia as she had looked when they first met her, some ten or eleven years ago. The young lady had to stop herself from staring at her—she struggled for an apt description—adopted mother in shock. While she was well aware that she herself was getting older, and could feel the difference over the years, it had somehow never clicked that Sofia was, of course, not young anymore either. In the back of her mind, she knew that, of course, Sofia was ten years older than she was when they met her, but it hadn't hit home until that moment. Where had the time gone?

Machaela shook herself out of the realization as other trainees wandered into the kitchen, following the delicious smell.

"You do know that the buffet table magically provides food, right?" Machaela asked while giving Sofia another hug.

Sofia laughed gently. "Yes, dear, but I wanted to surprise you, and I knew this was a good way to wake you up."

Machaela grinned as she swiped some of the batter, just as she always had since she was little. "It certainly was. I thought I was dreaming there for a few minutes. So many good memories tied with that. Remember the morning race? The first to finish breakfast and get ready for the day —"

"—including making their bed," Sofia finished, "won, and the overall winner for the week got to pick the first movie on Game Night? Yeah, I remember, and I'm glad you do too. That tradition tapered off as you got older."

"Of course I remember it," Machaela told her, ignoring the stares the others were giving her for chatting so comfortably with a stranger. "You managed to hit very close to a tradition I had with my parents, and doing it with you and Iskandar always eased my longing for my parents."

Sofia glanced over as she stacked more pancakes onto serving plates. "You never told me that."

Machaela shook her head. "I worried that if you knew how alike it was to my time with Mom and Dad that you would stop for fear of the memories hurting me. I cherished the memories, though, and didn't want them to fade."

Sofia smiled gently, but the conversation changed to introductions as two other adults walked in, followed by the rest of the trainees. To say Machaela and Jesse were happy that they would be living with Sofia again was an understatement, and they were nearly late for school because they kept talking. Peacetime was going to be _awesome_.

 **Thank you to Panemat and Youngid for your reviews! Youngid: So glad you liked it! and no, this story goes until Machaela and Jesse find their sister. we have 5-6 chapters left**

 **Everyone else, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and don't forget to review!**


	46. Chapter 46

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to my sister! Happy birthday to you!" Machaela woke to her brother's horribly off-key singing. "Rise and shine!" he continued as she rolled over. "I have a surprise for you!"

He plopped himself on the edge of the bed, shaking it a bit as he did, and Machaela cracked an eye open to peak at the clock behind him. She wanted to get mad at him for waking her up, but he had let her sleep well past nine, so she settled for an irritated glare.

"Oh, put that glare away," he told her, grinning. "You can't scare me with a glare I learned from you. Now don't you want to know what the surprise is, or are you going to sleep away your eighteenth birthday?"

She had honestly considered sleeping through most of it, since their tradition had died with Iskandar, but she couldn't tell her little brother that. Not quite awake enough to talk yet, she raised an eyebrow.

"Sofia's taking over our classes today, and we have money for a very special trip."

She sat up at that, wondering if he was talking about what she hoped he was talking about. She had been told several times they didn't have the money or the space for that…

Noticing the hopeful look on her face, he nodded. "There's an extra room on the top floor that's well ventilated, perfect for a small hobby forge. You want to take a trip to Manhattan?"

"You had better not be pulling my leg," she told him, her excitement waking her up quickly.

"I wouldn't do that about this, and you know it," he insisted. "You had better get up and get ready, though. It took a lot of convincing for Sofia to let us go to Manhattan—something about the other magic there—and it sure would stink if she changed her mind."

That got her moving, and Machaela met her brother in the kitchen a few minutes later.

"Thank you." She gave Sofia a hug from behind.

"You're welcome." Sofia hugged her back, whispering, "I know that today is hard, since this is the first without Iskandar. When you get back you, Jesse, and I can play a few board games or something." Machaela nodded with a smile as Sofia continued in a normal volume. "Now, be careful, you two. I don't much like where you're going, but Jesse insists this is the _only_ place you can get this." Next to Machaela, Jesse nodded as Sofia finished with, "Be back by dinner time, and Machaela? Happy eighteenth birthday, sweetheart."

After a quick breakfast, Machaela's portal dropped them at the southern end of Central Park, and Jesse had to trot to keep up with Machaela's quick pace.

"Slow down!" he finally told her as he slid on an icy patch. The gently falling snow had frozen overnight, creating a slip hazard. "We have all day!"

She checked herself and slowed her pace. "Sorry. I'm just excited. I finally get to have my own forge!"

He laughed at her excitement. "I know, I know. You've been hooked on metalworking since Jeff got you hooked on Forged in Fire." Jeff managed the metalworking shop at BAG and, while Machaela had never officially had classes in there, she had taken to spending quite a bit of time there before she graduated. She and Jeff had forged quite a friendship. "You know where the shop is?"

She playfully bumped him with her shoulder as they wound their way through the crowds. "Of course, I do!" She ducked beneath a wildly gesturing tourist's arm. "I've only been studying their store inventory _forever_."

He chuckled again as he tightened his coat around him. Man, it was _cold_ outside! Why couldn't they have been born in June, like their sister? _She_ always got warm weather for her day.

"I bet you already know exactly what you're going to buy," he teased.

She rolled her eyes. " _Duh_."

He chuckled, but cut off his own reply as they turned a corner, nearly bumping into an older man. "Wait." He stopped his sister from walking on without him. " _Benin_? What are you doing here?"

The older man stopped and stared a moment, perhaps trying to place them. It _had_ been something like four years since Jesse had been under his tutelage, Machaela reflected as she waited for the older man to respond. He hadn't changed a bit, though. He still wore that crazy looking Rasta cap and baggy clothes. His beard had been shaved to a goatee, but she still recognized Jesse's old teacher.

"Jesse?" he finally recognized them. "My, you've grown! How are you?"

They stepped out of the pedestrian flow to catch up as Jesse answered, "Great. I haven't seen you around Egypt in a long time, though. Where have you been?"

"Yeah, I moved back home, over on Long Island, to help a family member. I haven't actually kept up with the House as well as I should. How is Iskandar?"

Jesse's greeting smile dropped a bit, and Machaela looked away at the reminder. "Iskandar died nearly a year ago," Jesse finally managed. "I'm guessing you didn't hear about the war, either?"

"I'm sorry to hear that." Benin's empathy showed through his words. He knew how close they had been to Iskandar. "And no, I didn't. I've been rather busy with some problems in my family. What war?"

Jesse gave a quick rundown of events surrounding Apophis, Jacobi, and the Kanes, finishing with, "And things have been great, since then. Three months of peace so far, and the nomes are working together well. We're actually out today celebrating Machaela's birthday."

"Well, Happy Birthday Machaela!" he replied. She answered with a smile as he asked, "How old are you now? Nineteen?"

"Eighteen," she corrected, still grinning. "You were close. Sofia gave me some money as a present, knowing I've been wanting to buy some forging materials for a while now. That's why we're in town, though we usually try to avoid Manhattan."

Benin raised an eyebrow at her. "Avoid Manhattan. Why?"

Machaela hesitated a moment, trying to find a phrasing that didn't reveal their knowledge of the pantheons.

Seeing her hesitation, Jesse spoke up, "Iskandar and the current Chief Lector, Amos, told us to. Something about staying separate from other gods." Jesse shrugged, as if he didn't know and didn't care, which was hard for him to pull off believably. He _hated_ not knowing things, and Benin knew that.

Benin looked at him suspiciously but let it drop. "Well, I should probably let you get back to your shopping spree. It was great to run into you, and Machaela, I hope you have a good birthday! Make good use of your forge!"

With a wave, he blended back into the crowd, and the siblings walked the last block to the store.

"Forged in Fire" blazed its way across the sign, the font hinting at flames and hammer blows. Machaela grinned and took a deep breath as she walked in. She loved the smell of a metal shop.

"Good morning," the man behind the counter said with a nod. "Let me know if you need any help."

"Will do!" Machaela said with a chuckle, enjoying the look of surprise on the man's face. He had obviously assumed Jesse was his customer, not the tall, dark-haired _girl_ next to him. _So stuck in their ways,_ Machaela thought, _older people could be funny sometimes._

Jesse handed her the envelope with their money in it, and, glancing at the figure written on the front, she started going through the store, first picking out a small forge, then adding the various tools she would need. Tongs, files, quench tank, quenching medium, anvil, torch, the list went on, and she calculated her total each time, making sure she didn't exceed her budget. She couldn't resist browsing as she went, handling each tool to get an idea of what it was for, and Jesse just followed behind, watching.

After what seemed like forever to Jesse, but was probably only an hour or two, she finally finished browsing and decided she had reached her budget. She dragged her cart up to the counter, where the man began ringing her up.

"Starting your own forge, young lady?" the man asked by way of small talk.

She grinned again as she glanced at his nametag, quickly hiding her confusion when she found she had no idea how to pronounce it. "Yes, sir. I caught the pilot episode of the show this store is named for and I've been hooked since. The money to start a hobby forge is my birthday present."

"It's always nice for an old guy like me to see young people get interested in forging. Though, to be honest," he admitted a bit sheepishly, "I thought it would be your brother, not you with the interest."

She waved him off. "Don't worry about it. Everyone thinks that. I find it rather funny that the idea persists despite the 'gender equality' so prevalent today."

He smiled slightly as he finished ringing up her purchases. "Okay, that's everything in your basket, but don't you need a hammer to start with?"

She shook her head, admiring his perceptiveness. "I already made one. I'll just use that. Besides," she gestured to the total, "that number is just barely under my budget."

"You made one?" he asked. "How?"

 _A mixture of magic, some tools Iskandar had, and lots of trial and error_ , she thought. "Oh, just some tools a friend had." She held her hands about eight inches apart. "It's a steel cross peen hammer about this long. I put a black oxide finish on it. Turned out pretty cool, I think."

"It sounds like it." He finished checking her out and handed her change back. "Good luck in your forge!"

"Thanks." She and Jesse gathered her bags back into the cart. "Can I just leave the cart outside the door?"

"That'll be fine. Have a nice day."

She and Jesse pushed the cart, heavy with the anvil and various other things, out the door, stopping as soon as they were out of sight of the counter.

"I hope you have everything you need," Jesse told her. "I'm just glad we can shove this into the Duat. I am _not_ lugging all this across New York City."

Machaela chuckled at him, but didn't reply until they had everything stored. "We don't have to go back, yet, do we?" she asked.

"Nope," came the answer. "Dinner time, remember? Want to find some lunch, then wander around the city for a while?"

"You bet!" was her reply. "You mind going through Times Square?"

Jesse shook his head, knowing she wanted to remember seeing their mom and sister in Times Square several years ago. "I was hoping you'd say that. I want to go there too."

They pushed their way into the crowds for a trip down memory lane.

 **And here's the newest chapter! Hope everyone enjoyed it and don't forget to review!**

 **Thanks to bandcrazy01 and Youngid for the reviews last chapter. Youngid: yes, I have a two- or three-shot planned for after this story. after that, i'm out of plot idea for the time. have a plot bunny? release it my way :D**


	47. Chapter 47

"Today was so much fun," Machaela told her brother as they landed on the roof. "Thank you."

He tried to hide his grin. "I'm glad you had fun. It's been an eventful year, and your eighteenth is certainly something to celebrate."

She raised an eyebrow at him as he followed her down the stairs. "And your sixteenth wasn't?"

He shrugged as they walked down to the Great Room. "We were busy then, what with finals and all. Then those two new trainees showed up needing training. It's fine. You, Sofia, and I had our own little celebration. I'm not worried about it."

"SURPRISE! Happy birthday!"

Machaela's reply was cut off by the cries of nearly thirty trainees and chaperones, all of which were standing beneath Happy Birthday streamers. A birthday cake, complete with candles, sat on the table nearby. Machaela glanced at Jesse; his grin said everything she needed to know.

"You knew about this!" she accused as Shelby insisted she put on a birthday hat.

"Of course," he replied, his grin only a little smug. "Sofia and I planned it. You and I get a day to ourselves, and you get a surprise party when we get back."

"Well," Sofia interjected as she came over, "he helped plan most of it. He certainly didn't plan all of it."

Jesse raised an eyebrow at her, about to ask just what part of it he _hadn't_ help plan. She answered his unasked question by plopping another birthday hat on _his_ head as Zia led the others, including the giggling ankle biters, in a slightly revised, "Happy late birthday!"

"You may not be worried about it," Sofia told him, grinning, "but _we_ were. So this is a joint birthday party. Machaela, I hope you don't mind."

She shook her head, grinning at Jesse's beat red face. The look on his face made sharing her birthday with him totally worth it.

"Come on, come on!" Sofia urged. "We have cake and a couple presents for you, and I had to get multiple promises from the little ones, particularly Shelby," she gave their youngest trainee the stink eye, "that they would stay out of the cake until you two got the first pieces, and I don't know how much longer they can resist."

The siblings walked closer to find a table set up in the Great Room with the cake, while the outside tables had the normal buffet. Next to the cake sat three wrapped presents, which was three more than either of them expected to see, for differing reasons. Looking closer at the cake, Jesse was about to ask why each half was a different color, but Sofia spoke up before he could.

"Half is yellow cake with fudge icing, Machaela. Jesse, the other half is chocolate cake and milk chocolate icing."

Their smile grew at each getting his or her favorite cake, and as Sofia told Shelby that _no, we can't always each cake first. That's only today,_ the siblings moved closer to blow out the candles and cut the cake. They both had to chuckle when Jesse noticed signs of a small finger having disturbed the icing.

Each chose a corner piece, for the most icing, and once everyone had cake, the crowd moved out to the terrace for dinner. Conversation bounced from what the siblings had done with their day off—Machaela showed off some of her new tools—to what the others had done all day while they were gone.

"I taught your Basic Magic classes," Sofia answered. "Kayla's really getting the hang of spell casting, and Nick made a lot of progress with water. He may decide to go for a water elementalist. Perhaps you could follow Hapi or Nephthys," she told him.

After the siblings' "well done" toward each trainee, Sadie told about her Sympathetic Magic class going haywire after a prank, at which point one of the younger trainees couldn't quite hide their laugh. In Carter's Whatever Works class, Sean had improvised a summoning spell to defeat a shabti. Machaela hid her smile at hearing the unintended backfire had soaked Carter. _Pharaoh_ apparently didn't much like getting wet.

Carter's position as pharaoh had taken some getting used to, particularly in how to address him. Must they always follow protocol with the titles? Several had asked this in the days following the battle. Thankfully too modest to enjoy that, Carter had decided that, unless a situation warranted his authority as pharaoh, they should address him no differently than they ever had. Machaela and Jesse had been relieved at that decision, as that situation had had the potential to divide the unity of the nome. They had had enough issues with division in the last year; they needed some unity now.

Conversation wound down as dinner ended, and soon everyone trouped back inside for Machaela and Jesse to open the presents.

Several of the trainees, particularly the younger ones, came forward with drawings and cards with well wishes, which the siblings enjoyed reading. Shelby's crayon cat stood on the page and meowed at them several times before turning back into a drawing. Then Sofia came forward with the three wrapped presents from the table. Taking the two off the top, she gave one to Jesse and one to Machaela.

"The other is for both of you, but open those first," she told them.

It being mostly Machaela's day, Jesse insisted she open hers first. She unwrapped a sparkling golden charm bracelet and gasped. She looked up at Sofia, questions written on her face.

"Look at the charms," Sofia told her.

She looked closer. Eiffel tower, Parthenon, Jerusalem's skyline, Basilica, St. Louis arch, several charms, all from places they had been with Iskandar, glinted in the light, bringing back so many memories. She looked at Sofia for explanation.

"Once he guessed that we might not find your family very quickly, he started gathering the charms from various places that you had enjoyed. But he instructed me not to give it to you until you either would be going back to your family, or you figured out your heritage, which he'd suspected for quite a while by that point. Since you figured it out last August, it made a good birthday present. Put on the bracelet, then pull on the Parthenon charm."

She did so, and her jaw dropped when a Greek _xiphos_ , a double-edged sword used in Ptolemaic times slightly longer than Jesse's _kopis_ , appeared in her hand. The blade was beautiful, with a simple leather wrap and a polished silver blade. An inscription glinted near the hilt: φλόγες. _Flames_.

"It's beautiful," she whispered.

"Tap the hilt to the bracelet."

She did so, and the sword disappeared, reappearing as the charm on her bracelet.

"Thanks, Sofia." Machaela gave her a hug.

"Iskandar said to look closely at the blade once you're alone," Sofia whispered during the hug. "Something about it being part bronze."

Machaela nodded, making a mental note to check that later, and turned to Jesse so he could open his present.

Jesse turned his smaller package in his hand a couple times, searching for a place to rip the paper. Finally finding it, the paper soon fluttered to the ground, and he opened the oddly-shaped box.

Inside sat a leather belt, a handful of patches sown in easy-to-reach places.

Confusion written on his face, Jesse pulled the belt from the box to look closer. Jerusalem, London, Paris, Rome, Athens, and a couple of other cities' famous landmarks were depicted on the patches, sparking memories from their travels with Iskandar. Something nagged at him as he studied the belt, but he couldn't figure out what.

Finally, as he turned to Sofia to get the backstory, it clicked: the belt radiated magic.

"He made it when he realized he wouldn't live much longer," Sofia told him at his questioning look. "As you can feel, it radiates magic, though I don't know for sure what all it does. I do know, however, that the Rome and Giza patches are storage spaces, easier to access than the Duat."

With a smile full of memories and excitement, he put on the belt and activated the Giza patch, just to experiment with the storage space. He expected it to be empty, but, to his (and Sofia's) surprise, a round shield appeared in his hand.

His jaw dropped, and he spun it in his hand, checking the balance, then turned it over to look at the design.

It was truly a work of art. Black design on a gold background, in the fashion of ancient Egypt, the ensign showed off what looked to be two ankhs, but they were oriented so that the two loops touched, and the crosses went off to either side, making the ankhs also look similar to bird's eyes, which Jesse found rather strange. He liked the effect, though. There was a bit of writing scrawled along the edge of the shield face that looked Greek, strangely enough, but Jesse couldn't make out enough of the letters to understand what it said, so he ignored it for the moment.

"Wow," he breathed. "This is so cool!" He checked the Rome patch, finding it empty, as Sofia inspected the shield.

"This looks like a Ptolemaic design," Sofia told them, "likely in use when Iskandar was a boy, though I don't remember seeing that particular configuration before. That's quite a gift, Jesse, and a good surprise for you. I didn't know it was there."

He grinned. "It's awesome!" He put the shield over his arm, experimenting with how to hold his arm with a shield for a minute until Sofia picked up the third and final wrapped present.

She handed it to Machaela as Jesse put his new shield away. "This is for both of you," she repeated.

Opening it up, they found a piece of paper with several addresses written on it. Below the addresses was what looked to be a coupon. "VALID FOR ANY ONE DAY WITHOUT CLASSES TO TEACH OR ATTEND" was written in Sofia's fancy script.

"What's it say?" one of the younger trainees called out. Having forgotten the audience to them opening the presents, Machaela read the note aloud before turning to Sofia.

"Do you recognize any of those addresses?" she asked the siblings, mainly Machaela.

Machaela looked again at the list before slowly shaking her head. "The Spanish one looks slightly familiar," she slowly answered, "and it's in Arvada, our old city, so is that our old address, maybe? The others I don't recognize at all."

"You're right," Sofia replied. "The Arvada address is your old house, though I'm not surprised you didn't immediately recognize it. You haven't had a reason to recall that address in many years. As for this one," she tapped an address in Bailey, Colorado, "do you remember going to a rifle range with your parents?"

A reminiscent grin split her face. "Yeah! Dad liked to take us to the rifle range Granddad had been part of, and we rolled pop cans across the impact berms with our twenty-twos."

"I wish I could remember that," Jesse told her.

"You'll probably remember it when you see it," Sofia cut in. "That's what this is for. I thought that sometime next spring, once the snows melt, you'd want to take a day off from teaching and schedule a day out of school to visit your home state. These are the addresses of some of the places you've mentioned over the years. I know you wished you could be reunited with your parents and sister by now, but this is the next best thing. Besides, if your family still frequents these places, maybe you'll get a clue to their whereabouts."

Machaela and Jesse jumped up to squish Sofia in a hug. "Thank you," Machaela told her. "This birthday was better than I expected it to be."

Polishing off the cake, Machaela, Jesse, and Sofia spent the rest of the evening playing various games—board, card, and otherwise—with ever changing groups of friends. Everyone stayed up way too late, but they were on school break, so it didn't matter.

 **Hello, everyone! What'd you think? Like it? Have any unanswered questions I might be able to turn into oneshots? review! :D**

 **Fus Ro Duh: thanks for the review! Yes, I've heard of Eragon, and actually have the first book, but I've never read it. Maybe I'll read it soon, but don't start watching for fanfics from it. It takes many rereads for me to start fanfiction in a new universe :) In the meantime, if you have any plot bunnies for my LoD/LoM universe, send them on over!**


	48. Chapter 48

"Machaela."

She turned toward her bedroom door at the sound of her brother's voice. "Ye—?" Her word cut off. There was no one there. She could have sworn she heard Jesse say her name. Dismissing it, she turned back to the few things she was shoving into a bag in preparation for their day.

"Machaela."

There it was again. She spun around, _knowing_ she hadn't imagined it, but there was no one there. Refusing to freak herself out, she crossed her arms.

Keeping her voice steady and somewhat playful, she singsonged, "I can hear you, but I can't see you."

A chuckle sounded from her desk chair as the seat spun around to face her. "Well," his voice replied, "that is what _invisible_ means, sis."

"Did you get stuck in an invisibility spell, again?"

Jesse suddenly appeared in her chair, a slightly irritated look on his face. "That was once! _Years_ ago!"

Machaela shrugged, hiding her smile at making him turn visible. "And you haven't done one since," she pointed out. "If it wasn't a spell, how'd you do it?"

He waved his hand near the belt she just noticed on his waist, making himself flicker in and out of sight.

"I accidentally activated it a few minutes ago after realizing something else. The Athens patch contains an invisibility spell."

She pulled a face. "Great," she teased him, "now I have to worry about you disappearing even when you're still there."

He rolled his eyes. "But we can also use it for pranks," he countered. "How much easier will pranks be if the prankster is invisible?"

She chuckled. "Pretty cool. What else did you find?"

He grinned at her. "You can figure that one out yourself. Do an inventory of magic sources."

She raised an eyebrow, but stretched out her senses, searching for magic reservoirs nearby. There was the relic on the roof, a pile of shabtis in her closet, Walt's handful of remaining amulets, Felix's penguin outside his door, and…Her eyes drifted to Jesse. Somehow, _he_ was a magic reservoir she could sense.

"You can draw magic from your belt?" she asked, slightly shocked.

He nodded. "I couldn't figure out why my strength and magic reserves increased whenever I wore it, until I happened to be searching for magic reservoirs with it nearby. Iskandar rigged it like a relic, capable of storing magic from the Duat to use later."

"That's pretty sweet," she replied, grinning. "I'm a bit jealous."

He recognized her expression immediately. "If my belt goes missing…" He let the warning trail off, but she caught his meaning.

Rolling her eyes, she changed the subject. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah. All my stuff's in the Duat. I'm glad this didn't get cancelled."

"I'm with you," she replied as she finished shoving her things in a pack, and the pack into the Duat. "I was worried there for a bit. With Sadie leading the others through the cheese demon seminar and Carter going to Long Island, I thought for sure we would have to go with one of those groups."

"I did too," he answered, "but Sofia honored our 'coupon' she gave us last December. Did you hear her sticking up to Sadie for us?"

"No, I didn't."

"It was a couple days ago." Jesse lowered his voice a bit as they left her room. "Sadie was insisting we needed to go to the seminar with the others, but Sofia stuck to her honoring our plans. You've already graduated, and my teachers didn't care about me skipping today. Not to mention, we went through a similar class when we lived in the First Nome. I think that's what finally convinced her."

"Yeah, you're probably right. Why go through the class again? It was boring enough the first time."

They found Sofia eating breakfast in the unusually quiet Great Room as Jesse tried to cover his laughter. He remembered well their class time in Egypt, and anything outside of their specialty lessons they had found very boring, not that they ever admitted that to anyone else. Everyone knows to never tell the teacher she's boring. The teacher might decide to "liven it up" by assigning more work.

"Hey, you two," Sofia greeted them. "You ready for your day in Colorado?"

"Heck, yeah," Machaela told her as she grabbed a quick breakfast. "I've been ready since December. March took _way_ too long to get here. Sadie and the others already leave?"

Sofia chuckled. "Yeah," she answered the question first. "They had to account for time change in Egypt and left very, very early this morning, and Carter has already gone to hunt for what the mortals are calling the Long Island Swamp Monster." She rolled her eyes. "Mortals are weird. Anyway, your closest portal point to your old address is a pyramid-shaped playset at the nearby school, and there's a gazebo at a house in Bailey you can use to get there, though the trees covered too much to find an exit using maps."

"Thanks. We'll find something," Jesse replied. "If it comes down to it, I can call Freak or we can take a Duat trip. We'll be back sometime tonight after dark." He started moving toward the door, both of them wanting as much time in Colorado as they could get.

Seeing what he was trying to do, Sofia turned back to her meal. "Have fun!" she told them with a wave. "And be careful!"

 **Yes, I know. short chapter. next one (hopefully to be posted this weekend) will be longer to make up for it, but this was the best place to end it. Let me know what you thought of the chapter :D**

 **Youngid: thanks for the review, but I was thinking more along the lines of inside the LoD/LoM universe. Have I mentioned an event that could become a oneshot? Is there a story that needs telling?**


	49. Chapter 49

Standing in front of their old house brought so many memories back.

"Remember when our dog—what was his name?"

"Fritz?"

"Yeah! Remember when Fritz bit that snapping turtle?"

"Yeah, that was wild! What about when Paiten found that wasp's nest the hard way?"

Machaela winced. Their sister hadn't been the only one outside that day. "I remember. That hurt. Darn thing got me right on a joint."

"I'd forgotten you were out there too."

"Dad found a yellow jacket nest there, one time."

"There's where Fritz and our other dog, Copper, fought."

"There's your old bedroom window."

"There's…"

"Remember...? Remember…? Remember…?"

Conversation flew back and forth for over an hour as they wandered back and forth on the sidewalk. Nobody was home and the neighboring houses were dark as well, so there was no one there to contest their hanging around.

Finally, Machaela checked her watch. "If we're going to see the other places, get lunch, and still have time at the range, we need to get moving."

Deciding to catch a cab instead of a portal, they rode south, with Machaela giving directions as they tried to find the place they had spent most of their time.

"This is good," she finally said. "Drop us here, please."

The cabbie stopped in downtown Lakewood, a place that hadn't been there when they had lived in Arvada. Different than downtown Denver, Lakewood's city center simply had a collection of shops like an outlet mall.

Due south of Arvada, their mom had worked in Lakewood so many years ago, so Machaela's school and Jesse's daycare had been in Lakewood, too. They wandered for a while, finding their old library, Jesse's daycare, and the house where one of Machaela's friends used to live.

They ended up in a neighborhood Machaela somehow found familiar, and Jesse caught her staring at more than one house as if trying to remember something.

"What is it?" he finally asked.

"Didn't—" she stopped herself, but continued after a pause. "Didn't we have an aunt or something around here?"

He looked around. They were wandering through a neighborhood about halfway between a bike trail and Lakewood's downtown. He had a couple vague memories of bike rides, but nothing detailed enough to answer her question.

"I have no idea."

"Hmm."

They wandered around for a little while longer before grabbing some fast food for lunch, then finding an object for a portal, which spit them out, covered in sand, next to an elaborate mountain home.

Hurrying out of the private yard, they found themselves on a dirt road in the middle of the Rockies. Tall, beetle-eaten pine trees loomed on either side of the road, and a small creek ran through the valley below them.

"Bison Creek," Machaela said, pointing down. "Sofia was right, we're not that far from the range. Come on."

Machaela in the lead, they took off walking down the washboard road. Jesse looked around, enjoying being in the mountains again. They hadn't been in so long. High above them, a hawk screeched. Something four-legged bounded off through the trees, and the siblings caught a glimpse of an elk's large antlers. A bull snake slithered across the road in front of them.

If they had been driving, the trip would have taken maybe ten minutes, but walking took a bit longer. In the interim, the occasional car passed, throwing up dust that tried to stick to their clothes. They gathered more than one funny look, the drivers probably wondering why two teenagers were walking down this dirt road in the middle of a neighborhood.

The road turned, then forked, and they took the right fork, leading towards the creek. In front of them stood a locked gate.

"Do you remember a lock on this before?" Jesse asked as they considered what to do.

She nodded. "The gun club members are the only ones allowed back here, so they put the lock up with a code only members have." She paused a moment, thinking. "Let's just go around. It's not like we're going to use the range anyway. We just want to look around."

They edged their way around the gate, trying not to fall in the creek in the process. Trying to show off, Jesse hopped the creek a couple times. He stopped laughing when his foot slipped, soaking his shoe in ice-cold snow melt. Machaela laughed.

He pulled a face at her and started to run ahead, but she easily caught up and bumped him with her shoulder. Teasing each other, they walked quickly up the long drive.

"How far up here is it?" Jesse finally asked after they'd rounded yet another corner.

She shrugged. "A little ways. From what I remember, there's a 600-yard range with firing benches set up at 200 and 400 yards. At the 600-yard line are several berms for twenty-five, fifty, and 100 yard small fire. They put it way back here at the top of a cliff so they had enough distance for safety from stray bullets."

He slowed down a little bit, panting. "Let's stop speed-walking, then. I keep forgetting about the altitude change."

Hiding her grin, Machaela's teasing reply was cut off when they rounded the next corner.

"What's this?" she murmured.

Off to the side where she remembered forests sat a smaller range. Shiny new wood and a gate led to a staggered distance range. She saw distances comparable to the short berms she remembered at the long range from twenty-five to one hundred yards of firing distance.

"This must be new," Jesse spoke what she was thinking. "That wood still has factory stamps on it."

"It looks nice," Machaela said, eyeing the empty short range. "Let's go to the long range first, though, while we still have plenty of light. We can explore this later. I doubt very many people will be here. Most are at work."

Nodding agreement, Jesse followed as they continued the walk up the long dirt road.

Finally, the road opened, and Machaela's memories came to life.

There was the small range house. Here was the playset. She ran her hand over the swing set, remembering playing on it with Paiten and Jesse. There's the overlook, and the pavilion covering those old picnic tables. A small smile showing on her face, she took in the place she had nearly forgotten.

"Who's William Noland?" Jesse asked behind her.

She turned from where she had been staring at the overlook. "Dad's dad. Why?"

"His name's on here."

Machaela walked over. "Oh, yeah, he built this." She thought a second, continuing slowly. "If I remember right, he was working on this the day the cancer symptoms started. The memory's really hazy, but I vaguely remember Dad admonishing Granddad not to work so hard if he didn't feel well."

A rifle fired on the range, the report echoing through the trees, as Jesse looked at the pavilion in a different light.

"He built this?" he said slowly, running his hand over the wood.

"Yeah. It makes you feel closer to Dad, doesn't it?" He nodded, and, after a moment, Machaela asked, "Want to go see what they're shooting?"

A smile replaced Jesse's thoughtful expression. "Think they'll let us shoot it?"

Machaela grinned. "Doubtful. But they can't stop us from watching."

She pulled their ear protection from the Duat as they walked up the firing line steps. Staying well behind the firing line, she scanned the benches until her eyes landed on the lone marksman.

The broad-shouldered older man squinted down his sights, adjusting his glasses as he tried to see his target. Slowly, he squeezed the trigger, and another shot rang out over the hillside. Six hundred yards away, a puff of smoke lifted in the impact berm.

As he lined up for another shot, something in Machaela's mind suggested he looked familiar. After watching him a minute, though, and running through her few remaining family memories, she blew it off. She didn't know him.

The man leaned away from his sights and removed his hearing protection. Removing her own earmuffs, Machaela scuffed her shoe against the ground to announce their presence.

Hearing it, he glanced behind him. "Hello," he greeted. "I didn't see you come up."

Machaela grinned at him. "No matter. You were focused on your sights. What are you shooting?"

"Thirty aught six," he answered with a small smile. "I don't recall seeing you two here before. I'm Austen."

Machaela shrugged. "It's been many years since we made it up. I'm Machaela. He's Jesse. Thirty aught six, huh? That's a hunting rifle, right? Do you hunt elk?"

"My brother does. I'm just borrowing the rifle for some playtime. It's been too long since I've shot." He stretched his shoulder. "I'd forgotten what a beating your shoulder goes through."

Jesse grinned. "We wouldn't know. We've only shot a twenty-two, and I was around five the last time we got to shoot. What's your target?"

He gestured to some paper targets next to his bench. "Just paper bullseyes. Five, eh? That's pretty young to be shooting."

Jesse shrugged one shoulder, never really noticing that before. "Machaela first shot when she was four."

Machaela nodded, grinning. "My dad had to hold the barrel of the rifle up for me. We loved rolling pop cans around."

The man, Austen, chuckled. "Sounds like my niece. She loved to shoot. My brother brought his kids here every weekend he could."

Noticing pattern to this, Jesse was about to ask the man's last name when he noticed the phrasing. "Loved?" he repeated.

"My niece and her brother died in a car crash several years ago." There was no hesitancy in Austen's sentence. The siblings were dead, not missing.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Machaela replied quietly. The finality in Austen's tone left no room for doubt. She escaped the sensitive topic by checking her watch. "We're running low on daylight. We should probably let you get back to shooting."

He nodded acknowledgement. "The days are getting longer, but they're not long enough, yet."

Machaela laughed. "I completely agree. Have a good evening, sir!"

He waved and they stepped back off the mound on the other side of the range house, Machaela remembering something as they went.

"Here's the bench we always sat at." She pointed to the last firing spot.

"Always?" he asked.

She nodded. "Dad would park the van here," she pointed to the base of the steps near the bench, "and we always set up on the end bench." Another report sounded from Austen behind them, and she stared into space a second, then laughed. "I just remembered," she told him, still laughing. "The spring before the accident, Dad took the three of us up here as soon as the snow melted. Paiten had her rifle from Granddad, and we each had pistols. There were pop cans lined up on the twenty-five, fifty, and hundred yard lines, though the three of us were aiming for the twenty-five.

"Paiten's rifle was sighted in for the twenty-five, and Dad had stopped his own shooting to watch us. She grabbed his attention with a devious smile and aimed. He expected her to hit a can on the twenty-five, but when she squeezed the trigger, a can on the one hundred yard line fell over." Machaela laughed again. "Dad's face was priceless! Paiten had guessed the overshoot from the change in distance and changed her aim to account for it."

Jesse grinned. "So we've always been pranksters. That's funny. I can just imagine the shocked look when he realized which can she'd hit."

"Yeah, his expression was priceless. He told that story several times over the next month. After she did that, I had to match it, of course. It took a few tries, partly because I was still shooting a pistol, but I finally hit a can on that line." She chuckled again, her grin staying on her face. "Paiten was always the best shot out of all of us. It was natural for her."

They fell quiet a moment, staring at the firing bench. Eventually, Austen's rifle went off again, breaking them out of their thoughts. Finding the range house locked, they wandered back down to the new range.

As they walked, they kept hearing the report of a weapon, but it wasn't until they came within sight of the short range that they realized they were hearing another shooter and not the rifle on the long range.

A short, older man stood at the furthest firing line, aiming a pistol at paper targets held in wooden stands downrange. He fired off three shots in quick succession, and three holes appeared in his target, closely grouped.

Machaela let out a quiet whistle. "He's a good shot."

The man lowered his pistol and spun around, somehow having heard the whistle. He looked at them a moment, surprised, but then smiled in greeting.

"Hello."

Machaela smiled in answer. "I hope we didn't scare you."

He waved it off. "Nah, you're fine. I'm just playing with my new toy." He clicked the safety on and set it down as he continued. "I just got it yesterday and decided to send some shells through it to sight it in."

Jesse grinned as he gestured to the target. "It seems you have it on point. That's a great grouping you have there. What caliber are you firing?"

"This is a nine mil," the man answered. He looked at them, studying their faces. "I don't believe I've run into you here before. I'm Frank." He held out his hand to shake.

"I'm Machaela."

"Jesse. Good to meet you. And it's been a while since we were last here."

He glanced behind them, towards the parking lot. "Did you come here to shoot?"

Machaela shook her head. "We were in the area and decided to visit for old time's sake. An accident separated us from our family many, many years ago, but before that, we used to come here all the time."

"We loved it," Jesse picked up. "We rolled pop cans across the impact berms when the short range was still at the 600-yard line."

"Coming back to the area has been a great way to bring those memories to life," Machaela added. "I just wish we had our twenty-twos with us. It'd be great to shoot again." She stared out at the targets Frank had set up, missing the thoughtful expression on his face.

"You want to put a few rounds through my rifle?" he asked.

Machaela's head snapped around. "Are you sure?" She hadn't expected Frank to offer that. Why would he want two kids he'd never met shooting his rifle? Both siblings stared at him in question, unknowing how much their faces had lit up at his question.

He nodded, and they quickly accepted before he could change his mind. "Come on over, then," he told them.

They followed him over to another firing line on the other side of the range where his rifle was set up. Several paper targets fluttered in the wind a hundred yards downrange.

Picking up the rifle, he loaded six rounds into it before handing it to Machaela. Putting hearing protection on, she picked up the rifle, instinctively holding it how she had learned so many years before.

"The targets to the far right are clean," Frank told her, smiling a bit at how excited she was to be shooting.

Taking careful aim, she slowly squeezed the trigger three times, seeing the corresponding puff of smoke lift from the impact berm each time. The smell of gunpowder tickled her nose, reminding her of summer weekends spent with her family.

Her grin never faded as she watched Jesse take his three shots, aiming at a different round on the paper target. Lowering his earmuffs after shooting, he told her with a large smile, "Remember those metal targets Dad made?"

Her grin widened and she nodded. "They made the best sound when you hit them." She chuckled. "There were some days I would send an entire magazine at that target, just to hear the _ping_ of each hit."

Turning back to Frank, Machaela thanked him again. "That was great. You mind if we go get that target?"

Frank shook his head, grinning at their excitement as they raced each other to the target. Gently pulling it free of the staples, they speed-walked back to the firing line, all the while trying to find their holes in the bouncing paper.

It was through happy chatter that they figured out which target was which and which bullet was first. Both were pleased to see all of their bullets could be nearly covered with a quarter, and Jesse teased Machaela over his bullseye. At Frank's question, they nearly spoke over the other, so excited were they at their accuracy after so many years without practice.

He chuckled again at their animation, waving off another round of thanks. "It's no problem at all," he told them. He looked about to continue, but cut himself off to wave at a passing car.

Machaela glanced at the car questioningly, but didn't ask. Frank noticed, however, and said simply, "Austen Noland is a great guy. His brother comes regularly, but it's been too long since he made it up from Denver. We probably chatted an hour earlier before he moved to the long range."

"Austen…Noland?" Machaela's expression had changed from curiosity to almost horror at his reply. Her voice sounded choked, and Jesse was staring after the passing car. "Any relation to William Noland?"

"Yes," Frank answered, "as a matter of fact. Austen is William's son. Why?"

Jesse took off running, frantically trying to catch up to the car at the gate. Machaela stammered out, "William was our granddad. Austen must be Dad's brother." She began edging away and quickly said, "Thanks for letting us shoot your rifle, but I have to try to catch him! I haven't seen my dad in ten years!" She sprinted after Jesse, yelling another, "Thank you!" just before going out of earshot.

Machaela was sucking air after only a few seconds of running, but she ignored how the altitude affected her. Part of her hoped she hadn't offended Frank by running off, but most of her focused on catching up to her brother and hoping he had caught their uncle.

Around corner after corner she ran, hoping to find the gate at every turn. By the time she _did_ reach the gate, her lungs were protesting the lack of oxygen.

She looked frantically, hoping against hope Jesse had caught Austen, but dust rose in the distance, and her heart sank in her chest. Jesse stood with his hands on his knees and tears in his eyes as he watched their uncle drive off in the distance. There was no way they'd catch up now.

"I was _so_ close," Jesse huffed out between breaths. "So close. But I wasn't in time. He was already driving away, and he didn't see me waving."

Machaela wrapped an arm around him, her own eyes moist as another link to their parents drove around a hill and vanished from sight. When would they find their family?

They stood there for several minutes, just staring blankly into the distance. For the first time in years, they had had hope of seeing their parents again, but for thirty seconds. Thirty seconds earlier, and they would be seeing their dad soon. A verse of a song she'd heard on the radio flitted through her mind. "Tick tock hear my life pass by. I can't erase, and I can't rewind. Of all the things I regret the most I do wish I'd spent more time with you."

 _How fitting,_ she thought, kicking herself a bit. _I wish I could hit rewind and try again. Get here sooner, maybe_ listen _to my instincts when they say I know someone._

She shook herself out of her thoughts. "Come on," she told Jesse. "We left our earmuffs at the range. We're not getting anywhere staring after his car. We'll reach them eventually."

He nodded, and they trudged their way back up the road.

Back at the range, Frank was taking aim at one of his targets on the closest berm. Noticing them slowly come back to grab their earmuffs, he walked over.

"You couldn't catch him?"

Jesse shook his head. "He was pulling away by the time I got to the gate." He put his head down. "We were so stinking close."

"Is there any chance you have his contact info?" Machaela asked.

Frank shook his head. "Austen's not on the list of members. That's his brother. There might be an old member's contact page and my house, but the number may be outdated."

Machaela took out a scrap of paper and scribbled a number on it. "If you see Austen or his brother Lee again, would you give them this, please? We don't have a phone, but this number belongs to our adopted mom."

He nodded, placing the paper in his wallet. "I'll pass it along."

"Thank you," Jesse told him. He looked at his sister. "We should probably get going. We have a long walk back."

She nodded, and, after giving Frank another handshake, they took off walking toward town. Their day off had switched gears from fun exploring to disappointment. When would they ever catch up to their family?

 **Hello everyone! longer update to make up for the short chapter. hope you enjoyed and don't forget to review! only 1 more chapter left**


	50. Chapter 50

"You ready to leave?"

Jesse turned from where he'd been shoving textbooks into his backpack. "What are you doing here?" he asked in answer.

She shrugged. "I was running errands when I noticed the time. Figured I would walk you home."

He grinned. "Cool. And I'm almost ready. I just don't want to bend this design." He struggled with it for another minute before giving up. Mumbling something under his breath, he impatiently shoved the stack of papers into the Duat.

"Ok," he told her, swinging his bag onto his shoulder, "now I'm ready."

With a smile, she joined him on the sidewalk as they walked towards Brooklyn House. Chatter about their days filled the time for a few minutes, but eventually silence reigned. Brooklyn House would be especially noisy when they arrived, since one of the younger trainees had a birthday this weekend, and the siblings enjoyed the silence while they had it.

About halfway home, Jesse noticed a small noise. He didn't know how long it had been going, but it gradually got louder and louder. After a couple minutes, he realized the noise was humming, and it was coming from Machaela. Unwilling to make her stop, he didn't say anything. Not realizing she was humming aloud, Machaela gradually got louder. Eventually, he could make out a few lyrics.

" _Hey sister! Know the water's sweet but blood is thicker. Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you there's nothing in this world I wouldn't do._ "

"What song is that?" he asked.

She startled, breaking out of her thoughts. "What?"

He half-sang a few lyrics back at her. "What song was that?"

She thought a moment, apparently trying to remember. "Oh! The song's called Hey Brother. It's been stuck in my head for days, but I didn't realize I was singing it."

"Hey Brother?" Jesse repeated. "I don't think I've heard that one before."

She shrugged. "It's a good one, but it doesn't come on the radio often."

He didn't answer, and they continued walking in silence. BAG's campus was only a couple miles from Brooklyn House, so, while they could take a portal, sometimes they preferred to walk. It gave them some alone time they didn't have much of and the first part of the walk passed through neighborhoods and subdivisions, providing plenty of people-watching opportunities.

A mile from home, they came to a small shopping center. Crowds bustled in and out of brand-name stores. Kids screamed and played on a playset. People fought for spaces in the parking lot. For being midafternoon on a weekday, the outlet mall was uncommonly busy. A sea of people twisted and turned around itself as the crowds bustled in and out of stores.

Caught off guard by the crowd, the siblings just watch for a few seconds. Eventually, though, they shook themselves and started walking again.

They could have gone around, but decided to push through instead. Staying close to each other, they wound their way through the crowd, pushing and jostling people to make room. It only took a few steps in for Jesse to regret this route, but by then, it was too late. People pushed in on all sides, hindering movement and making him jumpy, but to turn around would be just as bad. They may as well go through than try to get out the way they came.

Halfway through, Jesse recognized a face, perked up, and waved, but whoever it was didn't stop to chat. The man's hand went up in a brief wave before he hurried away, nudging a young boy in front of him. They quickly disappeared into the crowd.

"Who was that?" Machaela asked.

"Benin," Jesse answered, confused at his former teacher's dismissal. "He must be in a hurry. Normally he would stop to catch up."

"Wasn't there someone next to him?"

"Yeah," Jesse nodded. "A preteen boy. Benin hurried him that way." He pointed where they themselves were headed, on the other side of the crowd. Jesse stared after his teacher for a moment, then shrugged. "Oh, well. Let's get home."

They pushed their way out of the crowd for the rest of the walk home, only to stop after a few steps. Now away from the noise of the stores, they could hear something else. Metal clashed. Someone blew into a set of pipes. Something roared.

The siblings exchanged a glance, then took off running. Somebody was fighting something, and that somebody might need help.

They rounded a building to find a field. Later in the year, crops would be growing, but for now, the field was barren. Well, barren but for a life or death battle.

As they came around the corner, Benin was in the process of swinging his club. The sturdy wood connected with a female vampire with flaming hair. ( _Empousa_ , Jesse called it.) The strong hit upside the head wasn't completely lethal, but it did stun the monster long enough for the boy's arrow to kill it.

As the _empousa_ dissolved to dust, Benin and the young boy turned their attention to a giant dog. The size of a dump truck, the dog growled at Benin and slowly came closer, ready to pounce. Benin held his club firmly in his hand, but that small club wouldn't phase the giant dog. The boy fingered his bow, but his expression clearly conveyed his inexperience. He had no idea if he could make another shot count. Besides, Machaela mused, by the time the boy fired the mutt would be on him.

"Hellhound," Jesse breathed. "Machaela?" he whispered. "Use your sword."

Looking a bit nervous, Machaela activated her charm bracelet, her sword appearing in her hands. This would be their first battle against a Greek monster. Yes, Jesse had taught her how to use the sword, but training and battle were two different things. She didn't have time to think about it, though, for right then the hound lunged.

Unconsciously letting out a battle cry, Jesse dove between the beast and the child, nicking the hound's leg with his sword.

Faced with a new threat, the hellhound backed up, only to be stuck in the rump with Machaela's sword. It took a few minutes, due to the hound's size, but the siblings harried the hound until Machaela eventually managed to kill it.

With the monster dissolving into shadow, Jesse turned to Benin and the young boy, only to find Benin staring at them in shock.

"Well?" Jesse asked when Benin didn't say anything. "Do you not recognize me or something? I thought you would have said hi at the outlet mall."

Eyeing Benin, who still hadn't found his words, the young boy answered them. "W-We were being followed."

Benin opened his mouth, apparently trying to say something, but all that came out was a bleat. A goat's bleat.

Machaela's eyes widened. "You're a satyr," she realized.

Benin nodded. "When—?"

"When did we figure out our heritage?" Jesse asked when Benin couldn't finish. "Last August. A bunch of monsters kept walking by the house, then there was that large explosion at sunrise. Combined with the sighting of the freaky Dirt Lady in the park, we figured out that the Greeks were still around. Our adopted mom confirmed it."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Machaela raised an eyebrow at him. "How were we supposed to know you're a satyr? Besides, there's not much we could do about it. We have obligations at home."

Benin looked about to respond when he jerked his head up, sniffing the breeze. "We have too many people in one spot," he mumbled, checking the sky. "Where is he?"

"Where is who?" Jesse asked, responding to Benin tensing by looking over his own shoulder.

"Butch," came the answer. "He was supposed to meet us here."

Machaela glanced at her watch. "We should be going."

"No!" They turned to look at Benin, who looked horrified at the idea that they would leave. "You don't understand. We had more than a hellhound and _empousa_ on our tail. If you leave this field without coming with us, they'll track you after we leave. You'll either be surrounded on the way, or you'll lead them to your home."

The siblings shared a loaded glance, deciding their course of action. They definitely couldn't lead the monsters to Brooklyn House, but they didn't want to go wherever Benin was taking the boy. Should they take a chance and fight the monsters off? Before they could decide, a chariot landed.

Jesse's jaw dropped. Pegasi! He barely noticed that it was a _flying_ chariot nor the large man in the chariot, so focused was he on the pegasi.

They _were_ beautiful. Their chestnut coats gleamed in the sunlight, and one of them had a star pattern on its wings.

"Come on!" Benin's call broke him out of his thoughts. Jesse saw Benin worriedly glancing at the edges of the field, and Jesse faintly heard a monster's roar. He hesitated, exchanging another glance with Machaela. What if going exposed the two pantheons prematurely? Such an event could spell disaster, war.

Growing impatient at their lack of movement, Benin finally grabbed Jesse's arm and pulled him into the chariot. Unwilling to be separated, Machaela followed, and Butch took off right as a large monster closed in.

Machaela didn't have a name for the creature, but her eyes widened yet again as whatever it was nosed around where they'd been standing and roared again. No longer quite as nonchalant, she crossed her arms.

"Ok, that's it," she told Benin. "Details. Now."

"How much do you know?"

Jesse answered, "The Greek gods are still around, you're a satyr, and we're demigods."

"That's it?" he asked. They nodded. "Alright. Short version: we're going to Camp Half-Blood, which is a safe haven for demigods to train. Monsters can't get in, but monsters can track demigods by smell, and every demigod has a scent. Satyrs can also smell demigods, and we try to find them before the monsters do so we can guide them to camp."

"Is that why you were in Egypt?" Jesse asked.

"Yes. I was undercover at—" he glanced at the boy, who had been introduced as Troy, and the large boy, Butch, "your school because another satyr thought he'd smelled a pair of demigods, a brother and sister. I'm decent with a sword, so I was able to pass myself as a sword instructor for your years of teaching. I suspected you and your sister were demigods, but since you were already where you were, I could have been wrong, and I couldn't take you out without solid proof. That's why I never said anything after you turned twelve. The longer you stayed at your school, the less my superiors wanted me to take you to camp."

He couldn't say any more in front of the others, but Machaela and Jesse got the idea. Because they were learning Egyptian magic, and the two pantheons didn't generally know about each other, Benin wasn't allowed to remove them from the First Nome to take them to camp. He needed definite proof, but the constant flow of magic around them interfered with his ability to identify their scents, so he was forced to leave them be.

As Benin finished, Butch slowed the pegasi down and the flying chariot came in for a landing in a central green. Twenty-something diversely decorated cabins fanned out around a fireplace in the center. A pavilion with picnic tables sat on a hill, and several other buildings and activities, including a climbing wall complete with lava, were scattered around the valley. A large pine tree stood on a hill behind them, and at the hill's base stood a two-story farmhouse.

Benin led the three of them to the house while Butch took the chariot towards a shed. At Benin's knock, the door opened, revealing a centaur.

Reflexively, Jesse took a step back. Aside from the centaur being _huge_ , almost every myth he'd read portrayed centaurs as evil. Why was one here?

"Hello, Chiron," Benin said, making Jesse relax again. He knew that myth too.

Chiron smiled, barely showing his confusion at two extra people. "I'm glad you made it. Come on in." They followed him into the back room, where an older, blonde haired boy was strumming a guitar on the love seat. Machaela and Jesse took seats on the couch as Chiron focused on the other boy. "You must be Troy. Will, here, will show you around."

The other boy put down the guitar and walked over. Will looked like an older version of Troy, with their blonde hair and light features. As they walked off, Machaela heard Will introduce himself and start trying to get the quiet, younger boy talking.

Chiron turned his attention to them and Benin spoke up. "And this is Machaela and Jesse. You remember when I taught Jesse a few years ago?"

"Yes, I remember." His voice stayed steady, but his expression betrayed…was that fear?

"They jumped in to help fight a hellhound," Benin answered Chiron's unspoken question, "and told me they already know about being demigods."

Still on the couch, Machaela leaned toward her brother. "How should we play this?" she whispered, ignoring Benin's conversation for the moment.

"I don't know," he replied. "Benin knows about Egypt, of course, and hinted that Chiron does, but how do we know what to tell?"

Benin left and Chiron turned to them before she could reply.

He stared at them a moment, perhaps waiting for them to speak up. When they didn't, he said, "I know about Egypt, but not many others here do. The pantheons are kept separate."

Machaela shrugged, but didn't know what to say. Chiron tried to get them talking, but after several short answers to his questions, he finally gave up, and the siblings began whispering to each other again, trying to work out a plan and figure out how to contact Sofia. They had a few days before she got too worried, but they still needed to tell her. The problem was how. They didn't have phones, and they didn't know if anyone here had phone, as something Jesse found online about demigods mentioned technology attracts monsters.

A door slammed behind them, but they didn't pay attention until a moment later when Chiron addressed them. "Hey, you two. This is Grace. She'll be your guide for the day."

They stood up to greet their guide, only to freeze. Standing in the doorway was a very familiar blonde-haired girl wearing a pink Times Square t-shirt. She paled and gripped the doorway to stay upright.

They faintly heard Chiron keep talking. Something about being claimed? Neither sibling heard him, too focused were they on the girl in the doorway whose blue eyes were staring at them in shock.

Machaela opened her mouth, trying to say something, anything, but her voice wouldn't work. Jesse just stared.

"You're dead," the girl finally said, forcing the words out. "Mom said you were dead."

Machaela walked forward slowly, wondering if she was dreaming. Were they finally reuniting with their sister, after all these years? "Paiten?" she asked quietly, expecting to wake any moment. She took another step forward, waiting for the dream to end. This couldn't be happening. It was too good to be true.

But it didn't end. In an instant, all three of them were squished into the tightest group hug they could make. That hug lasted a long, long time.

* * *

"And you know the rest," Machaela finished. "She showed us around camp, we got claimed, and came to surprise you the next day."

Machaela could see the tears in her mom's eyes. "All this time," she said, "you were in the First Nome. It's enough to make me wish I was still active."

They were gathered around the kitchen table, where Machaela and Jesse had spent the last several hours telling their entire story. Their mom had been rather insistent on hearing it, especially after witnessing Mel attack them.

"I just can't believe I ran from you in Times Square," Grace told them, "Or that you met Uncle Roger at the range. He's going to flip when he sees you at Christmas."

"Wait," Jesse cut in, "you _ran_ from us?"

She looked a bit sheepish. "Yeah, I knew we were being followed, but at that time I didn't remember you. My comment is why we took off running back to the hotel."

"Well, whatever happened then," Machaela said, "the timing worked out alright. We helped set up the rotation between Brooklyn House and Camp, and we helped the First Nome prevent Doomsday."

"Don't forget the quest," Jesse said.

"Yeah, that too."

"I just wish you could have met Iskandar," Jesse added.

"Yeah, I do too," Marie replied. "I want to meet Sofia, too, so I can thank her for raising you."

"We can arrange that soon enough," Machaela replied. "Her living in Brooklyn makes that easier."

"She'd be ecstatic to meet you," Jesse told her. "She's been helping us look since the wreck."

"So, Greek, Roman, Egyptian," Marie started, "any other pantheons I should know about?"

The siblings all chuckled, but Jesse's thoughtful expression gave him away.

"Uh oh," Machaela said. "Spill."

"Well," came his hesitant reply, "last week Sofia was going on about 'blamed, flying Valkyries', and, yes, that's a quote. Considering Valkyries are Norse…" he let the thought trail off.

Machaela groaned and put her head down. " _Wonderful_ ," she said, one hundred percent sarcastic. "We'll have to deal with Ragnarok next, just you wait. What else? Chinese? Indian? Native American? Can't we get some peace for a change?"

Jesse chuckled. "Of course not, sis. We combine too many bloodlines. Whatever comes, though," he looked around the table, grinning at having his mom and other sister there, "we'll face it _together_ , always."

Machaela and Grace grinned. "Always," they said in unison.

 _Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you, there's nothing in this world I wouldn't do._

 **Hello, everyone. RL reared up and slapped me a new one this week, but here's the final chapter of Life of Magicians! I hope everyone has enjoyed this story. Keep an eye out in the next few weeks for a short story. I'll post the first bit of a two-shot when I finish editing.**

 **Thank you Youngid and Panemat for your reviews of last chapter! Panemat: of course they put hearing protection in their Duat locker! they were going to a shooting range :D**

 **Don't forget to review! I want to know what you think**


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